tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57542724550641851162019-03-21T02:08:26.387-07:00Drink it How You Like itI'd rather be having a quiet drink... and can be followed on Twitter @alcothusiast; and friended on Untappd (handle: "neilcake" - all welcome).Neil Cakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11195359194982167881noreply@blogger.comBlogger257125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754272455064185116.post-51847633317189706392017-04-26T11:43:00.000-07:002017-04-26T11:43:52.502-07:00Spirit Log: Aberlour 12 <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DtTJqRT72lg/WQDpvPM7WSI/AAAAAAAACFw/NZc9KfHsU5A742dl54UFmiQZihfGrsC6ACLcB/s1600/aberlour-12%2B%25284%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="384" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DtTJqRT72lg/WQDpvPM7WSI/AAAAAAAACFw/NZc9KfHsU5A742dl54UFmiQZihfGrsC6ACLcB/s640/aberlour-12%2B%25284%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">While my procurement matrix suggested I should be getting a Highland malt of 18 years or older, my first thought was that I’d be looking at spending 80 pounds plus, and only a small selection would be within reach before the prices passed out of my grasp. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">In the end I didn’t have to agonise over it for long as I was in Sainsburys, on the cusp of pay day, and they had an Aberlour 12 Double Cask for £25 – that’s a healthy £10 off. I immediately thought, “well that’s an easy choice; decent discount, under budget, means I can splash out a bit more some time in the future”. So that’s what I thought I’d do. There’s nothing wrong with taking these offers from time to time. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Now, it looks like this Speysider replaces the Aberlour 10 that I’ve tried in the past (and was going to link to, though it seems I haven't written about that in anything other than passing...) and, in comparison to that, this one is obviously 2 years older, and billed as <i>double cask matured</i> – aged in traditional oak and sherry casks. I wouldn’t be surprised if this means it was matured in oak casks for 10 years, then sherry casks for 2, though the <a href="http://www.aberlour.com/" target="_blank">website </a>implies that spirit is matured in both casks and then blended – which is probably better. I see there’s also a 12 year old that is aged only in Oloroso sherry casks, but that one is only available on the international travel market. It seems likely that there’s some of that in this.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">From elsewhere on the internet – write ups, reviews and such – I’m led to expect <i>Christmas cake </i>flavours. That puts me off a bit really, but it doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy it– it’s weird how I like whisky but I’m not keen on so many of the constituent flavours that are supposed to be in there . Perhaps I’ll enjoy this over Christmas in order to eke all the benefit out of that that I can. It certainly isn’t a product that’s short of reviews, and they all tend to agree that it’s great and great value. I hardly think it’s worth adding my voice to the clamour that’s already there, but maybe I’ll just have something different to say.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><i>Time passes</i></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Well, I did open it over Christmas, and at first I was mightily disappointed. It wasn’t as sweet as I was expecting, but it was quite buttery with what I would term a standard scotch nose. Luckily, a few days later, which I’d been waiting out because my sinuses had suddenly clogged and kept me away from spirits for a while, I was surprised to find the Aberlour had already opened up. There was far more complexity and class. It was a joy to hold it on the tongue, and it started to remind me of the <a href="http://dihuli.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/an-island-malt-with-unusual-finish.html" target="_blank">Arran </a>expressions I’ve written about previously. The good news here of course, is that at £25, this is significantly cheaper than those. It’s not as strong, but even at normal price you’re saving a few pounds over the Arran.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Overall, the Aberlour 12 is preferable to the 10, but not up to snuff with the <a href="http://dihuli.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/spirit-log-aberlour-abunadh-batch-47.html" target="_blank">A’bunadh</a>, but they are all good value for what they are. In terms of 12 year olds in general though, I’m saying it’s not as good as:</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Suntory Hakushu 12, Bladnoch 12 (sheep label), Bunnahabhain 12, Highland Park 12 or Caol Ila 12.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">But it’s better than:</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Balvenie 12 Double Wood, Strathisla 12, Glenfiddich 12 and Glenlivet 12.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Of those I mention above, the Aberlour is closer in style to the ones it’s better than, than it is to the others. That clearly reflects on my personal taste preference, but also shows that this is a good example of its style for its age – and especially for its price.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-idOnBlBpBb8/WQDp3eAIt1I/AAAAAAAACF0/cmEHTxHb_zg6PHDc-6saUAqryoEIsLUUwCLcB/s1600/aberlour-12%2B%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-idOnBlBpBb8/WQDp3eAIt1I/AAAAAAAACF0/cmEHTxHb_zg6PHDc-6saUAqryoEIsLUUwCLcB/s640/aberlour-12%2B%25281%2529.jpg" width="384" /></a></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><br /><br /> </div>Neil Cakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11195359194982167881noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754272455064185116.post-32409470056471042662017-04-18T11:39:00.001-07:002017-04-18T11:39:55.519-07:00Spirit Log: Wild Geese Classic Blend Irish whiskey <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Jm9RalsxUhk/WPZdT3aH2eI/AAAAAAAACFg/NCB5CwJ3LHwow3bDLN_2G2bGOw1Lvzk-wCLcB/s1600/wild-geese-classic%2B%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Jm9RalsxUhk/WPZdT3aH2eI/AAAAAAAACFg/NCB5CwJ3LHwow3bDLN_2G2bGOw1Lvzk-wCLcB/s640/wild-geese-classic%2B%25282%2529.jpg" width="384" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I was trying not to spend all my booze budget this month, but couldn’t resist a little look at <a href="http://www.bringabottle.co.uk/" target="_blank">Bring a Bottle</a> anyway. What I came across was this; Wild Geese blended Irish whiskey. It’s 40%, and with P&amp;P it was £24.52 at <a href="https://www.thedrinkshop.com/" target="_blank">The Drink Shop</a>. The clincher was that this was for a 70cl bottle while all the other online suppliers were selling a 50cl bottle for around £23, so it seemed like a good deal. I have to say though, I was surprised when it arrived, to find that it is presented in an uninteresting, standard shaped bottle, when I was expecting something morein the Bruichladdich mould. I haven’t found any information online as yet, but it looks once again like there may have been a rebranding (though not a particularly drastic one) or even a product change. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Well, I can’t comment on all of that, not without definite information, so let’s just find out what this bottle is like, on its own merits.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Sadly I’ve made very few notes on this, but I can tell you that I enjoyed it. I drank it early in the evening in general, but it was also one that I chose when I didn’t want to be stuck making a decision for a long time – so a go-to, if you will. The <i>go-to </i>is an important role. For me it generally has to be good value (to assuage feelings of guilt) and reliably pleasing (to make it worthwhile drinking at the expense of something else). And Wild Geese performed that role well – like an efficient holding midfielder in a robust football team. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Literally, all I’ve written, now that I look at my notes is, “strong, but nice citrus”. What I meant by that when I said it I couldn’t rightly say now. Obviously at 40 ABVs it isn’t that strong. Was I referring to the citrus element? And even so, was that on the nose or the palate? Memory tells me it was the palate, so <i>strong citrus</i>perhaps. Nevertheless, I liked that element and I think this is a decent whisky. I feel like I paid about the right amount for it.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I’m still very new to the world of Irish whisky, and will have to pick up something a bit special next time. For now, this is easily comparable – even preferable to the lower end of the world of blended scotch. I’d probably prefer a <a href="http://dihuli.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/which-is-best-cheap-blend-out-of-cutty.html" target="_blank">Ballantine’s Finest</a>, personally, but I know a lot of you will balk at that statement. I’d take a Wild Geese over Grant’s, Dewars and Whyte and Mackay though.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><br /><br /> </div>Neil Cakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11195359194982167881noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754272455064185116.post-48357147564975234632017-04-11T11:46:00.000-07:002017-04-11T11:46:25.947-07:00Beero Quest, or Heroic Brew <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3Hqf5u9SfKY/WO0jvHY0ikI/AAAAAAAACFI/NGnLXW74qnYPLq50I9OXYPQDQSmTZ2EkACLcB/s1600/beero-quest%2B%25284%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="384" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3Hqf5u9SfKY/WO0jvHY0ikI/AAAAAAAACFI/NGnLXW74qnYPLq50I9OXYPQDQSmTZ2EkACLcB/s640/beero-quest%2B%25284%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">We’ve had the <a href="http://dihuli.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/actual-important-research-carried-out.html" target="_blank">Standard Supermarket Blended Scotch Test</a><b> </b>and now we return with a test of supermarket own brand beers. And why not combine it with a Hero Quest night?</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">It all started with being sent a mysterious <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cx8sl2uC46A" target="_blank">video </a>about how great the board game Hero Quest is, and my admission that I probably still had the game at my parents’ house. I’d begged for it one Christmas, and surprisingly received it among my booty that year. I say surprisingly because the year before I’d begged for Dingbats, and received Blockbusters. Only a few weeks ago I saw Dingbats in a local charity shop for £2, “certified complete”. I bought it, and when it came time to play, it turned out it wasn’t complete. The original board had been replaced with a Scrabble board. Having no idea what the board was supposed to be like, we had to make up our own rules. And it turned out to be shit. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Anyway, back to Hero Quest; I never actually got to play it. All I really did was photocopy the blank level template and create hundreds (artistic licence applied for) of my own solid quests. I was hoping they would still be in the box when my parents got it down from the loft (which is where it was sure to be), but alas there was only one; “The Treasure of Shortakan”. Perhaps we would get around to playing that one. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Also missing from the box were the four combat dice, but that was quickly remedied because I spotted it early and got my parents to find them well before the date of the game. They called to say they’d found it. At which point I told them there were supposed to be four. They found the other three.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Also missing were three standard dice, but that was quickly remedied by raiding three other games from the spare room. You may be wondering why it was necessary to raid three games when, given that most games come with two dice, I should have been able to get a third from a second game… well, that’s how I roll. Oh dear.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Being that David from the Standard Supermarket Blended Scotch Test would be one of the participants, I invited him to share the burden of seeking out beers from the various supermarkets. I took Sainsburys, Aldi, Lidl and Morrisons while he took Asda, Tesco, Co-op and M&amp;S. We set out some rules which were:</div><ol><li><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"> They have to be own-brand beers.</div></li></ol><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm; margin-left: 1.27cm;">That’s pretty self-explanatory. Ideally the name of the supermarket needs to be on the packaging, whether it is front and centre on the label, or just states “brewed and bottled for…” in tiny writing on the back. Nevertheless certain representatives of the budget supermarkets don’t quite adhere to this rule. <i>Galahad Export</i> for example, states nothing of the kind, but it is available exclusively through Aldi and everyone knows it’s an Aldi beer. So you’re not getting out of this one so easily, Galahad.</div><ol start="2"><li><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"> They ideally should be cans that are available as 4-packs.</div></li></ol><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm; margin-left: 1.27cm;">The thinking behind this one was that I was skint and needed to pick up some cheap beers that I could dip into in the weeks leading up to the challenge, such that there would be a can or two left over with which to carry out the test. It also seemed the most utilitarian way of making sure we bought beers that were roughly in the same category. There are so many own brand beers these days that it nevertheless seemed likely some leeway would have to be allowed here. As you’ll see, Co-op and M&amp;S couldn’t fulfil the can criteria, so David took an executive decision and got some bottles – M&amp;S’ Italian lager came in a 4-pack of bottles, while [I think] Co-Op’s Czech lager were individuals. You’ll see in the next point how these Czech ones were acceptable.</div><ol start="3"><li><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"> Don’t get anything below 4%.</div></li></ol><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm; margin-left: 1.27cm;">It’s a personal rule of mine (only occasionally broken – say, for output from a favourite brewery, or sheer desperation for something <b>distinct</b>) that I never buy beer that clocks up less than 4 ABVs. The reason for that goes back to the time at the <b>Bearded Theory </b>festival that I drank Carlsberg all day, from breakfast, and didn’t even register a slight buzz. I concluded at that point that there’s no point in drinking sub-four-percent beers. They’re basically the equivalent of celery, which is famously the food that takes more energy to eat than you get from eating it. Beers that are weaker than 4 percent make you lose in urine more alcohol than you can possibly absorb by drinking them.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm; margin-left: 1.27cm;">Another reason for this rule was to make sure David didn’t buy the super shit 2% beers that so many supermarkets include in their range. He likes to take things to extremes and would happily have done so – perhaps so that he would have been able to drive home afterwards.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm; margin-left: 1.27cm;">On my first visit to Morrison’s I actually found that, while they do a standard 4% lager, they also do a “premium” 4.8% lager. That’s more akin to the Holsten Pils and various other “premium” lagers I’ve been known to drink from time to time anyway, so I decided we should get those wherever possible. It also turned out that when I went back to Sainsburys, expecting to pick up their standard 4% lager, they did a premium one too, that was also 4.8%. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm; margin-left: 1.27cm;">Going back to that Czech lager from Co-op then, the point is that Czech lagers are precisely representative of the type of beer that we’re trying to test the supermarkets on here. And that’s why it was acceptable.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5N1EYhzxd6Q/WO0jvHw1FxI/AAAAAAAACFM/782wEWi1nrQ_oUwmeUy5TqzhzY7M8HV_ACLcB/s1600/beero-quest%2B%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5N1EYhzxd6Q/WO0jvHw1FxI/AAAAAAAACFM/782wEWi1nrQ_oUwmeUy5TqzhzY7M8HV_ACLcB/s320/beero-quest%2B%25282%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a>Right, shall we see who our contenders are and what we thought of them? David left me his notes, so I’ll quote directly from those if necessary…</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><i>Tesco Premium Lager (4.8%) </i>– Pilsner style, no brewer specified, £2.85 for 4 440ml cans.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Uninspired packaging, in keeping with supermarket beers in general .This one comprises a plain grey can with an unobtrusive design that is reminiscent of barley and presumably hops. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">David says: refreshing, flat and sweet.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I say: unremarkable. I failed to make any notes, so I’m working from memory and re-tastes of beers that were left over. While unremarkable, you have to admit that most branded beers of this genre are unremarkable also – Kronenbourg, Stella etc. So all you have to do is refrigerate it sufficiently… and get it down yer neck.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><i>Aldi’s St Etienne Premium Lager (4.8%) </i>– Euro lager style, £2.49 for 4 440ml cans.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">A red and silver can, worked into a kind of rosette shape and capped off with a fleur de lys.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">David says: soda water with a mellow fruit flavour; sweet but not nice.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I say: while there are subtle but definite differences between this and the previous beer, and indeed between this and the next, one’s perception of that difference fades after the second sip so, if it’s cold enough, you can just get it down you and you’re well on your way.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><i>Aldi’s Galahad Export (4%) </i>– Euro lager style, £2.09 for 4 440ml cans.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Low effort packaging finished in blue and silver with a little crest.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">David says: has a dull flavour which it soon loses, leaving only fizz.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I say: David has provided a fair assessment. At 4% it is disadvantaged next to the others in the test (with the exception of the next one), but at this price – and at the right temperature, of course – there’s no reason you can’t enjoy this, guilt-free.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><i>Lidl’s Excelsior Lager (4%) </i>– Euro lager style, brewed by Brasserie Champigneulles, £1.99 for 4 440ml cans.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">A blue and white can with red and silver trim and a silver action shot of a knight.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">David says: very fizzy and retains its head. He also says something about summer pubs and wasps, but I can’t fathom what he means by that. We were inside at night time and there definitely weren’t any wasps… perhaps he is alluding to a turn the conversation took at this point.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I say: Excelsior is perfectly acceptable. Again, a great price and meets the minimum 4%. Easily preferable to Fosters, Carling or Carlsberg as well as various others.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><i>Sainsburys Crown Premium Lager (4.8%) </i>– Pilsner style, brewed by Carlsberg, £3.25 for 4 440ml cans.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Red, silver and gold dominate the presentation of this one, finising with a crown and, like Tesco’s effort a representation of barley and hops.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">David says: totally flavourless.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I say: I’m fairly sure I fully concurred with David on this one, but I would add; if you want something refreshing to get smashed with, better this than something with an awful flavour.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><i>M&amp;S Italian Lager (5%) </i>– Euro lager style, brewed by G. Menabrea &amp; Figli, price?</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">A different approach to graphic design marks out this one. You have a mountain image and the bold claim that it is made with pure Italian Alps mountain water. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">David says: nice, bitter, smells like wine.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I say: I distinctly remember almost being appalled by this one. It does have a bitterness, but that is soon superceded by a cloying sweetness that I found abhorrent. It’s a bit of a shame because I can see from my Untappd log that I’ve tried two beers from this brewery before – the <i>150 Anniversario Ambrara </i>and <i>150 Anniversario Bionda</i>, both of which I awarded 4 stars. For my personal taste, every one of the other contestants in this experiment are preferable to this one.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><i>Co-op Czech Imported Lager (5%)</i> – Pilsner style, brewed by Pivovary Staropramen, price?</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">The design of this label literally bores the shit out of me, so the only way I could write anything about it was to say something dismissive and crass. It is notable that, besides the varieties of Staropramen (which include <i>Premium, Dark, Granat, Unfiltered, Svetly, 3.5%, Selection, Decko and Jedenactka</i>), this brewery also makes Sainsburys Czech Pilsner lager.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">David says: rich, fizzy, too eggy, dry.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I say: This is probably one of the very best on offer here. It is a standard premium, Czech-type lager, but what is particularly remarkable about it is that, despite it being brewed by Staropramen, I strongly prefer this to Staropramen itself. I used to like that brand when it first hit these shores, but I soon noticed an unwelcome bitterness which is thankfully notable by its absence in Co-op’s offering.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">So is there an overall winner? Well, there isn’t really. As long as you’re openminded enough to rise above your ingrained beer snobbery (as you well should be by now), you have to accept that in every case (except the M&amp;S one, in my personal opinion), these beers are perfectly acceptable for the price. Generally I do say <i>the stronger the better</i>, but even the 4% ones are sufficient to give you that buzz and, in spite of the price and volume variations between these, they are all cheaper and better value than the brands they emulate (or are cast off by) and really, in this genre of beer, the heights to be reached aren’t that high anyway. Save yourself some money and give them a go.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Thanks to David for attending and keeping some notes – and providing some of the beers, of course (and leaving some behind) – and to the others for playing Hero Quest with us and providing some laughs. I’ll try to think of another genre of drinking to investigate the next time something like this happens and, as ever, I’ll keep you fully informed.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><br /><br /> </div>Neil Cakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11195359194982167881noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754272455064185116.post-51033810413020141942017-04-04T11:38:00.000-07:002017-04-04T11:38:40.051-07:00Stretford and Urmston Pub Crawl <div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">It’s rare these days that I try to squeeze two pub crawls into a month, what with tight budgets and everything, but given the separation between possible attendees, I was determined to follow Shelts’ Nottingham stag experience (which, I’m sorry to admit, despite having a great time and visiting some excellent pubs, I didn’t write anything about) with one a little closer to home. Enter the #StretfordAndUrmstonPubCrawl, which you can follow almost in real time on Twitter by searching that hashtag.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">An actual crawl of Urmston was long overdue, and despite some excellent candidates, I felt there weren’t quite enough convenient pubs (by convenient, I mean pubs within a reasonable distance that I could get people to walk to) to spend the whole day there. For that reason I decided to tack on, at the beginning, a trip to Stretford’s Sip Club. From my base in Flixton, that should have meant a 20 minute bus ride, but Mrs Cake offered to drive me, and that was most welcome.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Arriving at 2pm on Barton Road, I missed any sign of the Sip Club at first, opting to stand on the corner and call Pablo, to see if he knew where it was. He said it was signposted, and that you have to go up some inoccuous stairs. Nothing looked likely at this point, so I said I’d wait for him. It was while I was waiting that I saw, painted on the side of the nearest building, a small white sign. I still wasn’t sure, but after I saw Pablo, I walked past it and saw that it did indeed indicate an innocuous staircase next to an estate agent. If you look carefully, there are also various beer signs that I had missed at first.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">On cresting the stairs it’s like one of those antique furniture shops – all tatty old furniture and mismatched chairs (and doillies), none of which would look out of place at your Gramma’s in the 80s. Then there’s a wall, around the other side of which is the bar. Layout leaves a little to be desired, but the overall effect is quirky and appealing. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">On tap you’ve got about 4 beers, and a blackboard letting you know what’s in bottles or cans. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><i>Heritage Trail Ale by Lymm Brewing Company</i>. A brewery that’s quite local to me, so I was surprised not to have at least tried one of its other beers previously. This is what I’d call a standard golden bitter, and not something I’d tend to be fond of. That much is reflected in my score of 2/5. No ABV is recorded on Untappd (at time of writing) for this one, but I seem to remember it was something half decent like 4.4.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Pablo and Carl both went for Blackedge Brewing Company’s American Pale Ale, but I’d already had that. So when they went for what I’d just had for my first drink, I tried something different entirely…</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><i>Equinox Lager by Chorlton Brewing Company</i>. Another local one, but instead of draught this time, it was from a can. I don’t mind that. At 5.7% it’s full flavoured, with a slightly bitter after taste that Untappd rightly classifies as and Indian Pale Lager – though there was no notification of that, as far as I remember, on the can. I scored this 4/5. A little peruse over my history shows that I’ve only tried one of this brewery’s output before, the Citra Brett Pale, which also earned a 4.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Dave joined us at this point (electing for HOP by First Chop), and it was soon off to the Stretford Mall bus stop where a number 15 duly arrived to take us the short jaunt to Urmston. We got off a stop too late and had to walk a few minutes to get to our next port of call, passing a number of scarecrows along the way. I didn’t know at the time, but Urmston has itself a quaint little scarecrow festival at this time of year (September).</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">David had also joined us of course, but there’s no tidy way of slotting that into the general narrative now. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">We arrived then at Urmston’s Hop House, a bar that Mrs Cake and I had had high hopes for when we moved to the area. We’d been concerned about lack of clientele, but have been back a few times since. It remains quiet, but more alarming is the infrequency with which the selection of beers is refreshed. I’m going to hazard a guess that it’s not at all. On top of that, the bar man seemed to be offended that anyone had bothered to show up at all, and put on some Bruce Springsteen songs that seriously lacked bass, and would probably have sounded better coming out of any of our phones.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I opted for <i>Flying Dog Brewery’s Snake Dog IPA (7.1%)</i>, the one remaing beer in the bar that I hadn’t already logged. This was in a bottle, of course. The distinctly average 3/5 that I’m scoring this one fits right along with the other beers I’ve previously tried from this brewery; <i>Doggie Style Classic Pale Ale (3/5), Numero Uno Agave Cerveza (3/5) </i>and the current dangling bollocks of this current Flying Dog, <i>K-9 Cruiser Winter Ale (3.5)</i>.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">We didn’t fancy staying there for long (and there was nothing different to drink anyway), so we headed over the road to The Steamhouse, and out to the platform side tables of Urmston Train Station. We were probably starting along the road to rowdiness at this point, and started discussing Freemasonry, following a comment I made, inspired by the book I am currently reading about the ridiculous secret organisation.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I went for a <i>Memphis Belle (5%) by Cottage Brewing Company</i>. It is described as an American style pale ale, and I think I normally like those, but this one I’ve scored only 2/5. Previous form for the brewery reveals a mixed bag – from the lows of <i>Sunset (1.5/5), </i>and <i>Pacific </i>and <i>Princess Beia (both 2.5/5) </i>up to the heady heights of <i>SS Great Britain (3.5/5 – so not that heady or high, actually)</i>.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Next we decided to see what was going on at new sports bar, Champs. It was Saturday afternoon, so sport was what was happening, and we decided not to stay for a drink because it was all standard lagers – I don’t remember the exact brands, but if I suggest Staropramen, San Miguel, Amstel… you get the idea.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">So it was on to the Tim Bobbin, another new experience for me. It’s a Wetherspoon’s pub, which I normally try to avoid, and it does tend to look at bit rough from the outside looking in. Nevertheless, Dave had a recommendation for us, and it seems like Wetherspoons offer the same variety across all their premises. And I have to say, the Tim Bobbin was a real surprise package. Much cleaner, brighter and more pleasant than most – not as striking as those ones that are in historic buildings, but pleasant nonetheless.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">At Dave’s behest, I went for a can of the 9.1% <i>Resin by Sixpoint Brewery</i>. It was something like £2.99, which isn’t bad for around 300ml at that strength. Nevertheless, I gave it 3/5 and conversation turned to the very recent Labour Leadership Election.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Before we left I had another can from the Sixpoint range, <i>Bengali </i>which was 6.5% and again scored 3 out of 5.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">It was here that things went wrong. I’d been saving for our last stop, the jewel in Urmston’s drinking establishment crown, The Prairie Schooner. But it was closed for a private party. That didn’t leave us a lot of options, but we went for The Lord Nelson, a Joseph Holt pub. Threadbare and local-style, it is nevertheless welcoming enough, and contains all the Holt beers that you never really get to try (because you don’t tend to go in Joseph Holt pubs). In spite of that, I had a <i>Black (</i>only <i>3.8%</i> when “black” things would normally be expected to be stronger<i>)</i> and it turned out I’d had it before, so I didn’t log it. I can see that I gave it 3/5 that time, and I have nothing to suggest I changed my mind about it on this occasion (and indeed no real recollection of what I thought of it).</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Some people had already started leaving by this point. I think we’d lost David and Carl, and after the Lord Nelson we lost Dave too. Pablo and I weren’t finished though, so we embarked on the generous walk to the Roebuck Tavern. For me it was a <i>Vinyl Tap by The Bootleg Brewing Company </i>this time <i>(4.1%)</i>, and it managed only 2.5/5. The brewery liked my logging of it anyway. This is the company that also makes <i>Urban Fox</i>, which I had tried previously (scoring it 3/5), and that others in the party were drinking at the Steamhouse, earlier in the day.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">The whole thing finished perhaps not as drunkenly as I was expecting, though I did have both a kebab and a pizza that evening. And all that only cost me about 40 quid. Not bad. It is a struggle to draw out Urmston into a full length pub crawl, but I suppose I had been counting on having more than one at the Schooner. Even so, I doubt we’ll be seeing this kind of offensive there again. For a few pints in the afternoon or evening though, it’s well worth a visit if you’re local enough.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Beer of the day then, was Chorlton Brewery’s Equinox Lager, while pub of the day was the Tim Bobbin. Well done to those guys. No doubt we’ll be seeing you again sometime. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><br /><br /> </div>Neil Cakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11195359194982167881noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754272455064185116.post-43050040457277449432017-03-29T11:43:00.000-07:002017-03-29T11:43:14.078-07:00Spirit Log: Lagavulin 16 <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9bXZVfBBwS0/WNwAGmyZqgI/AAAAAAAACE0/sW-9XMHr67oCxLr266UJUF_la3dw6wfnQCLcB/s1600/lagavulin-16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9bXZVfBBwS0/WNwAGmyZqgI/AAAAAAAACE0/sW-9XMHr67oCxLr266UJUF_la3dw6wfnQCLcB/s640/lagavulin-16.jpg" width="384" /></a></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I’ve been starting to struggle a bit with my whisky procurement matrix of late. The latest round of difficulty came with trying to step my Islay experience up a notch with the purchase of something aged between 14 and 17 years. The problem is, much as I’m a fan of the produce of the island of Islay, the prices can be a bit prohibitive. Can it be that reputations lead these whiskies to be somewhat overpriced? </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">So what are we looking at? There isn’t a Caol Ila option in this age category, and I’ve already tried the <b>18</b><i><b>. </b></i>If there were a Caol Ila 15 or 16 say, it would certainly be in contention… actually, since writing that sentence (and indeed, since making my purchase), it turns out there is now an unpeated 15 year old Caol Ila, and it sells for around £90. That’s probably a bit much, unless I can get a deal on it somewhere.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Bowmore do a 15 year old that goes by the name, <i>Darkest</i>, but I don’t find Bowmore all that inspiring and at £55, it was perhaps a step too far.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Being between the standard ages of 10 to 12 years and 18 plus, the category I was looking for is an awkward one. Most distilleries – Ardbeg, Laphroiag, Bunnahabhain – don’t offer anything in the range (though you can locate a vintage or merchant bottling if you’re feeling flush), Kilchoman don’t have any spirit that old yet, and Bruichladdich, while they make excellent whisky, price themselves a bit above a region I feel comfortable with.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">That leaves just one, doesn’t it? Ah yes, Lagavulin. Of course, we’re all well aware of the excellent Lagavulin 16. I’ve tried it and loved it, and bought it as a gift before, but I’ve never bought it for myself. It was an obvious choice and, for that reason, one I did my best to avoid. I just wasn’t getting drawn in by anything else though. There was a Bowmore 17 <i>White Sands</i>, which I skipped over for the same reasons I’d dismissed the <i>Darkest</i>, and a Port Askaig 15. I’m dubious about the Port Askaig releases because they don’t tell you which distillery produced their whisky, and £75 is a bit much for such sleight of hand – though since writing <i>that </i>sentence I heard that <a href="http://dihuli.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/jim-murrays-whisky-bible-2013-review.html" target="_blank">Jim Murray</a><b> </b>had scored a Port Askaig well into the high 90s in his 2016 edition, and indeed made it one of his whiskies of the year. One to try another time, then – in spite of how frequently I disagree with Murray’s appraisals.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Next I was looking at vintage bottlings – a 1998, 15 year old, unpeated Caol Ila… tempting, but £80 again? Maybe not. What about a couple of Lagavulin Distillers Editions? Again, you’re looking at more than £75 when you factor in P&amp;P. In the end, I just couldn’t see anything that seemed better value or a better bet than the classic 16 year old Lagavulin. At £48.46 from Amazon, you can be sure you’re getting quality (though I later learned I could have saved 10 quid by getting it at Costco), and the question of whether you want to push your spends over 70 quid can be deferred until a later date – like next month, when my procurement matrix has suggested I should get an 18 plus year old Highland malt. We’ll see about that. I think I’m clearly reaching my threshold because, frankly, you don’t need to spend that much money to get great whisky. But every now and then, I just might.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Now, you can see from the picture that the ‘vulin 16 (as I think I’ll call it) is beautifully presented. Brown bottle, tasteful labelling, and a classy navy blue box with gold leaf lettering. It certainly looks and feels the part.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Crack that bottle open, and you get the unmistakable whiff of peat that promises a cosy evening. It emerges from the bottle like a genie and makes sure everyone in the room knows it’s there.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">In the glass it looks the part too, but that is aided perhaps by the addition of caramel spirit. I really don’t know why they bother doing that – especially since the tinted bottle means you’re not going to turn your nose up at the spirit before you’ve even decided to buy it.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">It’s bottled at 43% instead of the preferable 46, but it oozes class all the way – and you don’t have to worry about whether you should be adding water (don’t). </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">On the tongue it’s sweet and lingering, and it might just come back to visit you the next day… a real bonus taste. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">So in all, as long as I don’t think about how much I could have saved at Costco, I got my money’s worth with the ‘vulin 16. I didn’t learn anything I didn’t know before, but at least I’ve bought myself a bottle of this now, which is something any serious whisky drinker should have on their hypothetical bucket list.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><br /><br /> </div>Neil Cakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11195359194982167881noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754272455064185116.post-18391081405123788192017-03-22T12:46:00.001-07:002017-03-22T12:46:47.310-07:00Spirit Log: Ocho Blanco Tequila <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-049x57NeufI/WNLUPcHqKYI/AAAAAAAACEk/FUlkivLWsMUmTkLJQ9YN50SdGf3sniBAQCLcB/s1600/Ocho-y-lagavulin-16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-049x57NeufI/WNLUPcHqKYI/AAAAAAAACEk/FUlkivLWsMUmTkLJQ9YN50SdGf3sniBAQCLcB/s640/Ocho-y-lagavulin-16.jpg" width="384" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ocho Blanco and a friend. "Just pretend I'm not here,"- Lagavulin</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">A month or so ago I was trying to buy some tequila, and for some reason ended up trying the alternative Mexican spirit of <a href="http://dihuli.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/completing-mexican-trilogy-sotol-blanco.html" target="_blank">Sotol</a>. This time, with 10% off tequilas and mezcals at <a href="http://www.drinksupermarket.co.uk/" target="_blank">Drink Supermarket</a>, I decided not to get distracted – a reasonably priced <i>blanco </i>was the brief, and that’s what I would get. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Now, 10% isn’t actually that much of a discount when you still have to add P&amp;P on, but you also get cash back at Drink Supermarket if you’re a member of <a href="http://www.quidco.com/" target="_blank">Quidco</a>. The cash back is only on the product price before VAT, mind, so it’s still not a massive saving, but it was enough to convince me to spend just over 20 quid on 50cl of full agave tequila. I’d be needing something reasonably priced but [hopefully] good to take to Shelts’ pre-wedding get together. This would be it – <i>Ocho Blanco</i> – made from agave plants that are allowed to grow for 8 years before being harvested. It’s also 40%, which is a cut above a good number of other reasonably (and not so reasonably) priced tequilas.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">When I mentioned I was bringing this along to Shelts’ do, he effectively turned his nose up. I wasn’t bothered at first, but then I thought that, as he’s the groom I ought to take something he can have, so I took the Lagavulin 16 too – which you can read about here next week. I was eventually able to persuade him to try the Ocho Blanco, but inspite of my insistence that he sip it, he flagrantly ignored my advice and just threw it down his throat and pulled a face, thereby receiving no benefit to trying full agave tequila. When will people learn to enjoy their spirits? Shelts is one of those people who once drank too much tequila and made himself ill, blaming the tequila ever since. Well, I did my best. I’ll let him live in ignorance from now on.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">In all fairness, this isn’t the best low price, full agave tequila I’ve come across. There’s more agave flavour in <a href="http://dihuli.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/mi-casca-viejo-su-casca-viejo.html" target="_blank">Casco Viejo</a>(my current favourite), and <a href="http://dihuli.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/732-words-on-tequila-and-then-few-more.html" target="_blank">El Jimador</a>, varieties that all retail around the same price or slightly cheaper, but there’s something extra fruity about this one. It doesn’t sting (which is something I expect from good tequila), but it is full flavoured. I want that sting though.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I’m not saying I wouldn’t buy it again, but in all likelihood, I probably won’t. There’s others I’d buy first, and there’s always plenty of other brands to try. But just because it doesn’t perfectly match my pallet, doesn’t mean it won’t be suited to yours – because I’m not saying it’s poor quality. It’s just a personal taste thing, and my personal taste ranks this at the bottom of all the full agave tequilas I’ve tried so far – but that still means it’s better than any <i>mixto </i>you’d care to mention.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><br /><br /> </div>Neil Cakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11195359194982167881noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754272455064185116.post-28561749964886440382017-03-15T12:53:00.000-07:002017-03-15T12:53:15.774-07:00Five Points Brewery: A Story of Cans, Apps and Good, New-Fangled Customer Care <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jX9-tk4-ebY/WMmayJLedAI/AAAAAAAACEI/2A-4r3Hm8cIHIUMLh38XE4D7uv6wS-koACLcB/s1600/Five-points-freebies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jX9-tk4-ebY/WMmayJLedAI/AAAAAAAACEI/2A-4r3Hm8cIHIUMLh38XE4D7uv6wS-koACLcB/s640/Five-points-freebies.jpg" width="384" /></a></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">One recent trip to West Didsbury’s <i><a href="https://www.theepicureanbeers.co.uk/" target="_blank">The Epicurean</a> </i>led me to trying a <i>Five Points Brewery IPA</i>. At just over £2 for one 330ml can and an enviable 7.1% alcohol, I considered this to be decent value. How good value it would turn out to be is yet to be revealed…</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Cans have suffered something of a demise over the last few years it seems. I suppose that depends on your perspective, but it does seem there are less cans available in your local supermarket than there used to be, with all craft and specialty ales favouring the bottle format. Personally, I rarely bought bottles until a year or two ago, and the reason for that was originally that cans represented better value in terms of liquid per pound of money, while a requirement to try a different beer every time led to a need for change – there were just more beers available in bottles.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">And now – popular with some, less so with others – cans seem to have been making a bit of a comeback. I have no strong feelings either way. It is notable that most of these new cans are of the small, soft drinks can size and, while that would have bothered me as a much younger man, I don’t mind it at all now. There just seems to be something uncouth about a 500ml can these days. 440ml is still just about alright.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">These ones by Five Points are nicely presented. There was only one problem. As I was sat outside in the garden one afternoon enjoying the IPA, I realised I wasn’t actually enjoying it at all. There was something oddly metallic about it, and that impression was growing. I scored it 1 out of 5 on <a href="https://untappd.com/" target="_blank">Untappd</a>, leaving a little comment and thought nothing more of it.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Naturally, the first thing my friends suggested on mentioning it to them, was that it must be something to do with the can – but how can it be? I’ve drunk <i>a lot </i>of cans of beer in my younger beers and never experienced anything like this. So I had to just put it down to bad beer.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Now, Five Points Brewery themselves stepped in here. No doubt they monitor their social media performance and, more than that, seek to make amends when something goes wrong. First they asked for a little information (bottle, can or keg?) and offered a replacement. <i>Very generous</i>,<i> </i>I thought. Even more so; I’d only bought and failed to enjoy <i>one</i> can, but within two days <i>four </i>brand new cans arrived at my house, free of charge. Result – unless there wasn’t a problem with that original can, and all I had now were four cans of crap beer. It’s not like I wasn’t going to find out though, is it? And even if I didn’t like them, that’s just a matter of personal taste, and you have to give Five Points massive credit for the strength of their convictions. Just don’t go taking advantage now, ok?</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">So I got two cans of the 7.1% IPA and two of the 4.4% Pale Ale. Let’s see what the verdict is, shall we?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gJe-7ZmiFq8/WMmbH8veNNI/AAAAAAAACEM/bGxlR0J_zMQethvqUCeX84wnLCbu4QeegCLcB/s1600/Five-points-ipa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="384" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gJe-7ZmiFq8/WMmbH8veNNI/AAAAAAAACEM/bGxlR0J_zMQethvqUCeX84wnLCbu4QeegCLcB/s640/Five-points-ipa.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P4QGonK9zbE/WMmbIhEnwAI/AAAAAAAACEQ/s_xxwoA4B0UOTZBhNKYPd1VSkEyWACBNACLcB/s1600/Five-points-pale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="384" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P4QGonK9zbE/WMmbIhEnwAI/AAAAAAAACEQ/s_xxwoA4B0UOTZBhNKYPd1VSkEyWACBNACLcB/s640/Five-points-pale.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">It was a difficult time to be giving Five Points a fair appraisal of their wares because I was in the process of recovering from the shingles. Then I got a nasty stomach bug. Then I got a nasty assed cold. None of this gives you much opportunity for drinking, and if you do, there’s not much chance you’re going to taste it. Anyway, I waited for a time when I felt I had my faculties back, and I can happily report that there was no hint of that metallic impression I’d originally had, and in all, both varieties were sharp and inviting. The Pale Ale was a little bitter on the finish for my personal taste, but they were worthy of a 3.75 out of 5 for the Pale and a 3.5 for the IPA. Not too shabby.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Since that occasion, no other brewery has responded to a poor Untappd review with an offer of free beer. Several have liked my check-ins, even when the star ratings were low, but that’s been the extent of it. I have to reiterate then, that Five Points deserve a bit of credit for their customer service – not just because they offered free replacement beer, but because they responded to the specific nature of my comment. They knew it wasn’t supposed to taste metallic, and that if it did, there was probably something wrong. Good for them.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I’ll just end with a little regret; I’m sorry to say that I haven’t bought any Five Points products since that occasion either – not deliberately, it just hasn’t happened. I’m certainly not avoiding it, and I will be buying some more eventually. I promise Five Points, I’ll make it worth your while.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><br /><br /> </div>Neil Cakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11195359194982167881noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754272455064185116.post-5197589692347558862017-03-07T11:49:00.000-08:002017-03-07T11:49:41.049-08:00An Island Malt With an Unusual Finish... <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EJX7Iz2a5Ew/WL8OSdC85PI/AAAAAAAACD4/6g4MHdfqaI0D8RkU6vw-7RMp0PJaAjyUgCLcB/s1600/Arran-sauternes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EJX7Iz2a5Ew/WL8OSdC85PI/AAAAAAAACD4/6g4MHdfqaI0D8RkU6vw-7RMp0PJaAjyUgCLcB/s640/Arran-sauternes.jpg" width="384" /></a></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Over recent months my accounts of procuring and enjoying spirits have almost turned into a kind of buyers’ guide, where I pick some criteria and evaluate what’s available before making a purchasing decision of my own. I’m doing that again this week, but this one was particularly taxing. How taxing? Well, let me tell you (slipping into Donald Trump there for a moment), so taxing that I nearly didn’t bother buying anything.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">What are we looking for this week, then? Well, it’s going to be an Island malt and it has to be (at least partly) aged in an unusual kind of cask. So, what Island malts would we generally be looking at? Highland Park, Talisker, Arran, Scapa, Jura, Tobermory and Ledaig seems to cover it. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">What do I mean by “unusual cask”? It needs to be something other than ex-bourbon and sherry. I mean, they’re all going to be partly aged in ex-bourbon casks I imagine, but sherry is just so <i>yawn </i>to me at the moment.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Now, on this occasion I’m looking to spend around forty to forty five quid, but I’ll exceed that if I see something that I absolutely have to have. But where do we start? I’m not looking for a Highland Park as I’ve tried quite a few of those, and they’re nearly all sherry cask whiskies. The <a href="http://dihuli.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/reacquainting-highland-park-12.html" target="_blank">12 year old</a>, as I always say is excellent, and the others [in my opinion] less so.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I also wasn’t looking for a Jura, since I haven’t been impressed previously with either the 10 year old or the <i>Superstition</i>. They’ve really done themselves no favours with those two as I can’t ever see myself being tempted to try any others. Had I been tempted (and willing to exceed £70) I might have gone for the <i>1996 Boutique Barrels </i>which, while aged in ex-bourbon casks, was finished in a ‘Bourbon JN cask’. I don’t know what that is, but it sounds interesting now that it’s too late. It’s cask strength too – but still a bourbon cask.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Then there’s <i>Tastival</i> which has a shit name, but has been matured in ex-sparkling wine casks from Loire Valley’s Bouvet Ladubay. I’ve only just found that out, and if I’d given Jura a chance, I might have gone for that, but I suppose not at that price (80 quid).</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Scapa only have one affordable expression, and that seems pretty standard, as does the 10 year old from Tobermory. Ledaig is an brand I’ve been impressed with before, but again, no cask finishes that are out of the ordinary.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Finally we get to a couple of distilleries that are offering options. Arran were offering reasonably priced varieties including Sauternes wine, madeira, port and amarone cask finishes. Master of Malt had a 2007 amarone cask finish at £90, while Amazon had a non-vintage one at £46. I think I found that all too confusing – why would one be well expensive and the other half the price? I didn’t want to wrestle with whether the cheaper one was going to be any good or not. I’ve tried a <a href="http://dihuli.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/how-did-you-do-in-sales-arran-1997.html" target="_blank">14 year old single sherry cask Arran</a> before and that was nice enough, though it hasn’t left a lasting impression.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">So then you have Talisker. I like Talisker, having recently enjoyed the <a href="http://dihuli.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/how-did-you-do-in-sales-arran-1997.html" target="_blank">Skye </a>expression and long been familiar with the <a href="http://dihuli.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/fish-cowboys-talisker-10.html" target="_blank">10 year old</a>. In terms of cask finishes, Talisker were offering a <i>Port Ruighe</i>, so just <i>port cask finish </i>then.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I started looking for candidates a week or two before I was actually going to make a purchase, and those Arran expressions and the Talisker one made me optimistic, but when I started looking at user reviews, I wondered whether I wouldn’t be better directing my money toward something <i>off-plan</i>. So I ended up leaving it – only for a day or two, but finally I searched for independent blogger reviews, and it turned out that they were positive in their opinions of the Arran expressions. I didn’t get around to looking up the Talisker one for some reason, and finally, I went for the Arran Sauternes Cask at Master of Malt for £41.03, which for some reason qualified for free delivery. Why a wine cask finish instead of a port one? Well, I’m not a fan of port in general, and my all time favourite whisky so far has been the muscatel finished <a href="http://dihuli.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/good-evening-and-thanks-for-joining-me.html" target="_blank">Caol IlaDistillers Edition</a>, so I’m looking for something as special as that here.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">So that’s what you’re looking at if you want an Island malt with a special cask finish.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">So how is it? </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">At a generous 50 ABVs, I’ve found you need to add a couple of drops of water to soothe the burn on this one. I opened it when our friends Gav and Claire came round, and then accidentally left it outside on the deck all night, leading to an hilarious comedy panic when I went downstairs to feed the cat the following morning, and noticed my new whisky’s absence. I looked outside, but didn’t immediately see it. It was there, but it took a second search, and a few minutes of thinking, “<i>goddamn it, the best part of fifty quid gone, and I can’t even remember what it tasted like</i>”.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">A few weeks later I accidentally doled out excessively generous measures to the participants in my Hero Quest night, that you’ll be able to read a bit more about in a few weeks.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Now, in spite of that interesting cask finish it doesn’t strike me as all that different to what I remember of the sherry cask finish that I mentioned earlier, and I’m afraid I don’t have all that much to say about it. It was nice enough, and it was decent value – better value in fact than that sherry cask one. You’d be looking at around £70 for a numbered, single sherry cask bottling, while it’s only around £40 for this one. At that price you’re not doing too badly, but that isn’t to say that you can’t get something more memorable for less – not something from the islands with an unusual finish for less, but what do you want? Do you want something memorable, or do you want to expand your horizons a little bit? I wanted to expand my horizons and I got a decent but not earth-shattering whisky for an acceptable price. Now go out and decide what kind of whisky you want to buy this month. I’ll be back next week to tell a story of a time I received excellent customer service.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><br /></div>Neil Cakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11195359194982167881noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754272455064185116.post-39458427172567093942017-02-28T12:00:00.000-08:002017-02-28T12:00:32.057-08:00Spirit Log: Whyte & Mackay's, The Thirteen <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AELv21L4aB4/WLXWoENMCEI/AAAAAAAACDg/ud-2uiIoupI4YOujuw_Xw2S3e_7G6xXKgCLcB/s1600/Whyte-and-mckay-13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AELv21L4aB4/WLXWoENMCEI/AAAAAAAACDg/ud-2uiIoupI4YOujuw_Xw2S3e_7G6xXKgCLcB/s640/Whyte-and-mckay-13.jpg" width="384" /></a></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I think I’ll eschew all the over-detailed prevarication for once, and just jump straight in with this one. This is the next Whyte &amp; Mackay blend up from their standard <a href="http://dihuli.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/what-can-i-do-with-this-bottle-of-scotch.html" target="_blank">Special </a>expression. Funny how the scotch industry is always calling the most basic expressions <i>special</i> and <i>signature</i> and <i>reserve</i>… it makes it sound like they are the cream of the distillery’s output, when in fact they’re the worst, and could easily put you off trying anything more expensive from the distillery in question.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Anyway, I got massively soaked footing it hotly over to Asda one lunchtime in order to take advantage of a pretty good deal. It was £17.50 for 70cl, and while the label at Asda didn’t indicate that this was any discount on the normal price, all the standard online retailers were selling it at £17.94 (or, in one case £22.57) <i>before </i>P&amp;P. That makes it at least £5 cheaper for a start. According to <a href="http://bringabottle.co.uk/" target="_blank">Bring a Bottle</a>, the price generally tops out at around £23, and has been as low as £17, so for now, this seems like a decent (if not outstanding) pay day deal.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Now, I have tried the Special before, and I remember thinking it was ok, but I also remember using it to add a bit of a kick to my cans of Holsten Pils on occasion – so a pretty standard but decent cheap brand name blend. All I remember of <i>The Thirteen </i>is that it was part of a blind tweet tasting when I was a member of <a href="http://manchesterwhiskyclub.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">TheManchester Whisky Club</a>, and that everyone was impressed with it. There’s a possibility that some of us thought it was a single malt. It will be interesting then, to see what I think of it now. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Let’s first have a little look at what the rest of the internet thinks about it. The Whisky Exchange introduces it with, “believed by many to be the best value of the range” which isn’t saying much as, excepting the bottom of the range <i>special</i>, the rest of the range costs £150 and up. So it really just has to be better quality and value than the Special to achieve that particular accolade.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">The user reviews on TWE are exclusively favourable, but none say anything interesting enough to repeat here – except one that describes the presentation as “masculine” and a welcome change from “French perfums [sic] like bottlings”.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">User reviews at the other most useful online supplier, <a href="http://masterofmalt.com/" target="_blank">Master of Malt</a>, veer violently from one side to the other. On the negative side we’ve got “for me is just water… almost no taste”, “worst and cheapest 12 years old or more whisky I ever taste”, “made me shudder… barely drinkable”, and “Richard Paterson should be ashamed!”</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">You might be wondering who Richard Paterson is. I was. He’s Whyte &amp; Mackay’s master blender, and appears to look like a cross between <i>Allo Allo</i>’s Rene and Des Lynam.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">On the other side of the fence though, we have “one big surprise… and I was quick to buy another bottle”, “anyone that says this is a poor whisky doesn’t know what they’re talking about”, “Lovely… a great dram”, and, the best of all, “I am from America and all my gay friends love this whisky.”</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I’ve read a couple of amateur blogs that have been to <a href="http://www.whyteandmackay.com/" target="_blank">Whyte andMackay’s</a><b> </b>website, and are making a thing out of a so-called “triple maturation process”. One in particular claims that the whiskies are aged in sherry casks for 12 years, before the grain and malt whiskies are then married for a further year. I’ve got to say though, the detail on the website is a little vague. First off it says they choose “the finest aged single malts and and aged grain whiskies from… Highland and Speyside”. The thing to note there is the use of the word “aged”. So these whiskies have already been aged, but for how long?</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Next they age the malt whisky (carefully – whatever that means) and separately age the grain whisky (less carefully, it seems), but they don’t tell us how long for. Then these are married in sherry casks. It’s really not enough information, is it? </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Then check this; “we’ll let our master blender tell you a bit about how he blends Whyte &amp; Mackays’s Scotch Whisky to get our award-winning smoother, rich taste”, it says. I can’t wait for that. Go ahead, master blender:</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">“I believe our triple maturation process gives the blend the key to its success – time. Time to harmonise and time to form a perfect union: an ideal partnership.”</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">And that’s it. What a load of useless bullshit. Triple maturation. Part of that maturation would seem to have been done by the original distillers! At least it does if you can understand English and use that understanding to interpret the words as presented.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">This triple maturation is lauded as being unique, but is it? All it is, is taking some malt whisky and blending it, taking some grain whisky and blending it, aging them for a bit, blending them, and then aging them a bit more. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">So is it any good? Well, on first opening I was very impressed. <i>This </i>is <i>a touch above the standard blended scotch fare</i>, I thought to myself, <i>as it should be, given that it’s a touch more expensive, too</i>. But… I came to be less impressed over time. My favourite whiskies tend to improve for a few months after you’ve opened them. Low cost blends probably tend to stay about the same. <i>This </i>one started good, then regressed to the level of a standard blended scotch; a little harsh, a little sweet, fine for drinking early in the evening or following closely on the heels of a beer, but not something I’d recommend you pay that bit extra for on a regular basis – or even more than once. It is probably marginally better than the Whyte &amp; Mackay Special overall.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><br /><br /> </div>Neil Cakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11195359194982167881noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754272455064185116.post-15110279466225360012017-02-21T11:42:00.000-08:002017-02-21T11:42:57.773-08:00Festival Story <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gpW9R7T_ErM/WKyXzTRFWJI/AAAAAAAACC0/xnjB9wR_ijQ6c0B9M8jPaTHa4Fv8UIl1wCLcB/s1600/20160718_171703.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gpW9R7T_ErM/WKyXzTRFWJI/AAAAAAAACC0/xnjB9wR_ijQ6c0B9M8jPaTHa4Fv8UIl1wCLcB/s640/20160718_171703.jpg" width="384" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a piture of barbequed beer can chicken, for no other reason than a picture is needed for this post, and I don't have a relevant one</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">We went to a festival one Saturday a couple of months ago. A festival that shall remain un-named, in an un-named suburb of an un-named town – just to protect any un-named people involved from embarrassment.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">It sounded like a good idea; meet some friends in the afternoon, take the babies, potter around, get something nice to eat, drink some nice beer… because I thought it was fair enough to assume that, the way things are these days, there’d be a craft beer stall, or at least a number of bars. For the record, the food was good. Mrs Cake and I shared a couple of very nice fresh pizzas. But the drink; oh dear, oh dear.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">“Is that the bar, over there?” said I to my friend Phil, as we crested a hill with our buggies and sought out something to drink.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">The bar was quite large, and well-staffed with 9 or 10 servers. There was no one queuing for service though. I suppose it was only shortly after 2pm, and overall attendance at the festival seemed quite low. I put this down to the fact that it had been absolutely tipping it down for most of the day. As we approached the rope cordon for the bar though, it started to seem weird. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">We barrelled on, and I offered a greeting to the 9 or 10 eager faces, willing to exchange alcoholic beverages for money. They explained that they had Amstel and Thatchers, and those didn’t interest me, but I noticed a pump with some artwork I hadn’t seen before and the name of an unfamiliar beer.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">“A pint of this one, please” I said.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">“Pint of Amstel?” said the barman.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">At this point I realised that they had been telling me that <i>all</i>they had was Amstel and Thatchers, and nothing else.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">“Oh, I don’t want Amstel,” I said turning to go, “So <i>that’s </i>why there’s no one ‘ere. Thanks anyway”.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Now, the funny thing is: I actually don’t mind Amstel, but I hadn’t come to a festival to drink it. In fact, for no reason other than we had been invited to the event by a beer enthusiastic food blogger, I had gotten it into my head that there would be interesting beers available, and I now realised this was not going to be the case. And rather than have a normal but perfectly acceptable Eurolager, I would have nothing.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Not strictly true, I suppose. Phil and I ended up going to the local Rhythm and Booze, and picking up a selection from there. In all fairness, what I got wasn’t much more interesting than Amstel, but they don’t tend to keep the most interesting beers in the fridge. So I got 4 cans of XJ Premium, which was ok, but at least it was also a <a href="http://dihuli.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/distinct-beers-challenge-climax-results.html" target="_blank">Distinct Beer</a>.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I suppose the moral of the story is, if you don’t like what’s on offer, you don’t have to have any. And if you’re putting on a festival, make some more interesting drinks available. It’s possible that I’m being too picky these days, expecting too much, but what’s the harm in that?</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><br /><br /> </div>Neil Cakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11195359194982167881noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754272455064185116.post-1273506797866386902017-02-15T11:54:00.000-08:002017-02-15T11:54:28.507-08:00Completing a Mexican trilogy; Sotol Blanco from Hacienda de Chihuahua <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YrB-jtnif-I/WKSv7F9lQNI/AAAAAAAACCU/Ah7xCaHHTU46P4kB1XBk2bZdTxa09X05gCLcB/s1600/Hacienda-de-chihauhua-sotol-iii.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YrB-jtnif-I/WKSv7F9lQNI/AAAAAAAACCU/Ah7xCaHHTU46P4kB1XBk2bZdTxa09X05gCLcB/s640/Hacienda-de-chihauhua-sotol-iii.jpg" width="384" /></a></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Back before we <a href="http://dihuli.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/return-to-garda.html" target="_blank">Returned to Garda</a>, I’d been pricing up brands of tequila, and had settled for one I wanted to buy at a price I wanted to pay. The only problem was that it was out of stock at the retailer that had it at that price. So I decided to wait. I came back from Italy one pay day richer, and ready to have another quick peruse before deciding one way or another. <i>Arette Blanco </i>was still out of stock at <a href="http://www.drinksupermarket.com/" target="_blank">Drink Supermarket</a>, but at Amazon, they had <i>this </i>on offer. It’s like tequila apparently, but it’s made from a different plant (<i>Desert Spoon </i>or <i>sotol</i> instead of agave) and is from the Chihuahua region of Mexico.</div><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KeDLTOTyfbI/WKSwVrZ-UrI/AAAAAAAACCY/9832aGwpiLg0lFc6bsrVPPzKKGeBtUyAgCLcB/s1600/hacienda-de-chihauhua-sotol.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KeDLTOTyfbI/WKSwVrZ-UrI/AAAAAAAACCY/9832aGwpiLg0lFc6bsrVPPzKKGeBtUyAgCLcB/s320/hacienda-de-chihauhua-sotol.jpg" width="192" /></a>So this was £26.91 (including delivery) for 70cl and it’s 38% alcohol. It comes in an impressive (but ugly) mottled and [I don’t know] tombstone shaped bottle, with clear labelling and some nice silver text on the side. There’s a label around the neck and a large stopper that is sealed with a kind of string-wax arrangement. It looks a bit like one of those water containers that you see cowboys drinking out of in old western films.<br /><br /> <div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I saved the <i>moment of fulfilment</i> for a games night with Pablo and Veronica, breaking it out after a couple of beers. That string-wax arrangement I mentioned looks nice enough, but it proved a devilishly difficult obstacle for me to overcome. Seriously; it shouldn’t take more than a few seconds to open a new bottle.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I have to admit, I was disappointed at first, as the Hacienda de Chihuahua sotol doesn’t deliver any of the qualities I look forward to in enjoying tequila. No rough edges, no agave sting, no sharpness. If anything there was something creamy about it. In its favour was that it didn’t just taste like cheap alcohol – but on the flipside of that, it just didn’t really taste like much.Whether or not these are characteristics of sotol in general I couldn't say, but I can't see any harm in finding out by trying another brand one day.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Fortunately the Chihuahua (a frustratingly difficult word to type on this laptop)&nbsp; proved to be easy drinking and provide a safe option for when I couldn’t decide what to start an evening’s drinking with. I’d still prefer something a bit more bold and demanding of my attention, but this has turned out to be decent value and a worthwhile investment. In the end even Mrs Cake enjoyed drinking it neat, and it was nice to try something a bit different, and look all cultured when friends came round. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I think I will go back to tequila next time – perhaps something of the <i>anejo </i>variety - but if you have more than a passing interest in the wide world of spirits, it’s worthwhile completing a Mexican trilogy that starts with tequila, moves on to mezcal, and finishes with this. I wonder if there are any more to try… </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kBD0oVk3obA/WKSwghzmCZI/AAAAAAAACCc/ysDuVIWGUpI4DzYrCX5AJUicxJQi9eW7wCLcB/s1600/hacienda-de-chihauhua-sotol-ii.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="384" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kBD0oVk3obA/WKSwghzmCZI/AAAAAAAACCc/ysDuVIWGUpI4DzYrCX5AJUicxJQi9eW7wCLcB/s640/hacienda-de-chihauhua-sotol-ii.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><br /> </div>Neil Cakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11195359194982167881noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754272455064185116.post-63335042276554234822017-02-08T11:38:00.001-08:002017-02-08T11:38:51.179-08:00Slighly more than a passing mention of Cinzano Bianco Extra Dry vermouth <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ShkqpXoxJuU/WJty4BRJH5I/AAAAAAAACCE/UQOd00POOQAxV8uvIpe-F-mtVPtYqavggCLcB/s1600/cinzano-bianco-extra-dry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="384" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ShkqpXoxJuU/WJty4BRJH5I/AAAAAAAACCE/UQOd00POOQAxV8uvIpe-F-mtVPtYqavggCLcB/s640/cinzano-bianco-extra-dry.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">It’s been a long time since I’ve invited vermouth to share these pages with us, and it’s strange that it should be now, so soon after a visit to this brand’s country of origin, Italy. Surely I could have picked up a cheap one over there? Well, I never thought of it. I had a quick look at other products in Duty Free, but I felt rushed and didn’t end up committing to anything. After a couple of days back at home, I was in Sainsburys and saw this 15% ABV brand for £5.50. That seemed reasonable – and it turns out a good couple of quid cheaper than it’s available on <a href="https://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/" target="_blank">TWE </a>and <a href="https://www.masterofmalt.com/" target="_blank">MoM </a>– even before P&amp;P.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">The bottle actually sat untouched on my shelf for a good few months before one day I ran out of beer, and needed something to replace it as my Saturday afternoon treat. There had been other opportunities before, but I hadn’t made any ice for a while.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Vermouth in the main is nothing special. I tend to think of it as a decent drink for giving you a bit of a buzz – like having a beer, really; when you don’t want a wine or to mix a cocktail. As such you can’t expect much, but I have to say the Cinzano Bianco has turned out to be something of a disappointment. I’d always assumed this was one of the better brands – for no other reason than it’s one everyone’s heard of (when was <i>that </i>a reliable indicator anyway?), so I was surprised to find it’s not as good as the Martini varieties I’ve tried, and probably on a level with certain unbranded ones from Aldi or Lidl. The enduring impression is of a slight but pervasive bitterness and sadly, I don’t have much to say about it.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">&nbsp;And that's it for this week! Next week I think I'm going to be looking at the obscure Mexican spirit of sotol, so you won't want to miss that. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><br /><br /> </div>Neil Cakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11195359194982167881noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754272455064185116.post-78946370914427693632017-01-31T12:10:00.000-08:002017-01-31T12:10:02.556-08:00A second haul of grappas from Garda <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IPUSi1tKX9E/WJDpxI8fdnI/AAAAAAAACA8/lBrxwdVG2fcHWFs994Tt0al8QsyWlZ93QCLcB/s1600/First-three-grappas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IPUSi1tKX9E/WJDpxI8fdnI/AAAAAAAACA8/lBrxwdVG2fcHWFs994Tt0al8QsyWlZ93QCLcB/s320/First-three-grappas.jpg" width="192" /></a></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Evening! Last week we had a tumultuous return visit to beautiful Salo by Italy’s Lake Garda. This week I want you to imagine we’ve been back home for a while, and been sampling all those lovely grappas we were able to bring home. There’s four of them in all. Here’s what I thought.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oIOkPIf6NcI/WJDtdTC_zWI/AAAAAAAACBs/ZLJS4g3cTYYQYGowrvcsjm03JJPVIYK3QCLcB/s1600/Franzosi-rebo-ii.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oIOkPIf6NcI/WJDtdTC_zWI/AAAAAAAACBs/ZLJS4g3cTYYQYGowrvcsjm03JJPVIYK3QCLcB/s320/Franzosi-rebo-ii.jpg" width="192" /></a></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><i>Franzosi’s Grappa di Rebo</i></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">The small cork on this modern-style bottle reveals a bizarre insert that does a great job of regulating the pour. It doesn’t restrict it in any way. The label is transparent with the name written sideways in red.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">It is savoury in its mightily impressive nose and on the tongue, and not really sweet at all, but actually very good. There was definitely a benefit to using my new grappa glasses here. The wine glass I tried on opening at our friends Phil and Laura’s didn’t do it justice. Phil and Laura love Italy almost as much as we do, though this was their first experience of its special spirit. Laura seemed interested, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they’d been left with an impression of weird vodka. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Overall the Rebo didn’t quite live up to the taste we had at the showroom. It may be that it is better chilled, but I never chill my grappa, and don’t really want to start doing that. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NeG78mancQk/WJDtpj-aS3I/AAAAAAAACBw/t5C3gsFKN-EovmOIP2oVjNhvQVef-iQDACLcB/s1600/il-roccolo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NeG78mancQk/WJDtpj-aS3I/AAAAAAAACBw/t5C3gsFKN-EovmOIP2oVjNhvQVef-iQDACLcB/s320/il-roccolo.jpg" width="192" /></a></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><i>Il Roccolo Quatra</i></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I’m not sure if this one really is called “Quatra”, as the writing on the label is somewhat ambiguous. It’ll have to do though. It’s a refined little bottle with smart shoulders and a slight taper, adorned at the top with a ribbon and a large, tight stopper. The label is low maintenance and respectful.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Much sweeter than the Rebo, I’ve found the Quatra to be very enjoyable and easy drinking. I really feel that extra 5% alcohol does it a lot of favours as it generates intoxicating fumes and a more intense sweetness.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">It’s a no-nonsense grappa that ticks all the boxes and gets the job done.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-deypsupis1c/WJDsOYalGNI/AAAAAAAACBk/d1I7DT7S6SoF31GkyUBmqJ1KNUInWHnqACEw/s1600/Turina-grappa-invecchiata-ii.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-deypsupis1c/WJDsOYalGNI/AAAAAAAACBk/d1I7DT7S6SoF31GkyUBmqJ1KNUInWHnqACEw/s320/Turina-grappa-invecchiata-ii.jpg" width="192" /></a><i>&nbsp;</i></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><br /></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><i>&nbsp; Il Turina Invecchiata</i></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Presented in a low-key but classic bottle with what I’m going to call a wedding stationery label, this expression is a model of understatement. It features the same bottle insert as the Rebo, and is 45% ABV. I determined quite quickly that it lacked a certain sweetness that I was hoping for. It was enjoyable enough, but quickly found itself sliding down the pecking order and being the grappa that I would drink most frequently because I wanted to make the Quatra last. And also I opened this… </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><br /></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><br /></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><br /></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><br /></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><i>Grappa di Leali MonteAcuto</i></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">It turns out that this immaculately packaged delight is the jewel in the crown. If you visit here fairly regularly you might already be aware that I was so impressed with this that I made it one of my three spirits of the year. It is full-bodied, sweet and complex, and well worth that trip off the beaten track, into the back roads of the region.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V9_hLpxRJ9M/WJDqky-5EcI/AAAAAAAACBI/nV3Pmu_qU2Yrt5EhbXI3ULqV4sEy6tyMwCLcB/s1600/Leali-di-MonteAcuto.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="384" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V9_hLpxRJ9M/WJDqky-5EcI/AAAAAAAACBI/nV3Pmu_qU2Yrt5EhbXI3ULqV4sEy6tyMwCLcB/s640/Leali-di-MonteAcuto.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">And so ends our Italian love affair for another year. It’s well worth discovering and pursuing the delights of grappa, but even if it isn’t up your street, and wine is more your thing, a week or two exploring the various regions of Italy, visiting cantinas and wineries, makes for a relaxing and engaging experience.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">That’s it for now then. I’ll be back next week, talking about something else. See you then.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><br /><br /> </div>Neil Cakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11195359194982167881noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754272455064185116.post-41360619663270529522017-01-26T12:47:00.000-08:002017-01-26T12:47:55.530-08:00Return to Garda <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Wbld-rAPm5w/WIpcIAY9gfI/AAAAAAAACAc/mu9gbMN-GHoAMUTPFVDarXIKKH-dUVz1ACLcB/s1600/Three-Lombardy-Grappas%2B%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Wbld-rAPm5w/WIpcIAY9gfI/AAAAAAAACAc/mu9gbMN-GHoAMUTPFVDarXIKKH-dUVz1ACLcB/s640/Three-Lombardy-Grappas%2B%25281%2529.jpg" width="384" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">three grappas from the Garda region</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Just over a year and a half ago Mrs Cake and I took our booze tourism adventures to Lake Garda in northern Italy (which you can read about </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><b>here</b></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">), and last year we decided to go back – because we were offered a discount to stay in the same apartment. Actually, not just for that reason; also because it was really good.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">So we landed at Milan’s Bergamo airport at around 5pm (UK time) on the Wednesday afternoon. We had already chosen to remain in UK time for the purpose of keeping our little girl on her regular schedule of naps and meals. There were certainly no problems there, but this would lead to one or two difficulties and errors along the way that we’ll get to later.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: small;">I picked up a couple of take-out beers at an airport outlet (Ceres Strong Ale, 7.7%, 3 out of 5) for when we got back to the apartment. </span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">After picking up the rental car (which always takes ages because queuing is an under-utilised concept in Italy) we had an hour’s drive to the accommodation, by which time it would be 7pm and getting on for little Sylvie’s bed time. We decided Mrs Cake would take care of bed time activities while I drove down the mountain to the Italmark supermarket for supplies (water, wine, beer, bananas – that last item for little Sylvie’s breakfast) and the nearby pizza bar for takeaway.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Both were closed, but I wasn’t about to give up. Otherwise it would be bed with no tea, and in the morning no breakfast and no water for the little girl to drink. You can probably drink the tap water in Italy these days, but not knowing that for sure, it was time to be the provider. I started to drive toward Salo, figuring there would have to be something open, and after one or two dead ends I found a hotel-restaurant-pizzeria and returned home with two pizzas, a bottle of house white wine and a big bottle of water. Result.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Triumph over adversity is a beautiful feeling.</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">The next day the people back home would be voting on whether we would remain part of the European Union. Mrs Cake and I had already voted by post, and were hoping for a victory for remain. While all that went on we got on with things. First on the agenda, after getting our little girl up and fed, was a trip to the supermarket to get food for the week, overstock on cold drinks, and get some preliminary booze.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Let’s start then, by looking at some beer selections from the local supermarket.</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Peroni varieties</i></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Peroni Nastro Azzurro is a very popular beer here in the UK. It seems to be the lager that is acceptable for drinking when you’re having a meal out. I first came across some of the other varieties of Peroni when we went to </span><a href="http://dihuli.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/booze-tourism-tuscany-grappas-delight.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Tuscany</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">, but I have noticed one or two of them since on the shelves at local supermarkets. Nevertheless, there are still more varieties available in Italy than there are in the UK.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">I picked up the following:</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>Gran Riserva Puro Malto </i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">(5.2%), or </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>pure malt</i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">, and I scored it a mere 3 out of 5. </span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eevG4hmDfZg/WIpauWyajXI/AAAAAAAACAQ/lXeq_GsJeSUyXMYuKZA_O3_zBgAl-SNEgCLcB/s1600/Peroni-rossa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eevG4hmDfZg/WIpauWyajXI/AAAAAAAACAQ/lXeq_GsJeSUyXMYuKZA_O3_zBgAl-SNEgCLcB/s200/Peroni-rossa.jpg" width="120" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">special Peroni?</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>Gran Riserva Rossa </i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">(5.2%), or </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>red pure malt</i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">. I was looking forward to this one. I, for some reason, thought it might have been aged in burgundy casks or something, and would be quite special. It doesn’t appear that anything of the sort is the case. I scored it a </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>very </i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">disappointing 2 out of 5.</span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>Gran Riserva Doppio Malto </i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">(6.6%), or </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>double malt</i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">. I have seen this one in UK supermarkets, and would say it’s worth a punt at that nicely elevated ABV. With this one I finally started to deliberately score quarter points on </span><a href="https://untappd.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Untappd</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">, awarding it 3.25 out of 5.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">For those </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><a href="http://dihuli.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/distinct-beers-challenge-climax-results.html" target="_blank">distinctbeer</a><b> </b></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">enthusiasts who are thinking of visiting Italy, other varieties you can look out for are </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>Peroni Gluten </i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">(gluten-free), </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>Chill Lemon </i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">(a Radler), and </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>Forte</i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">which is an impressive 8%. I didn’t see any of those on my travels, but rather on the </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Peroni</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">website when I got home to do some research for this post.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Moretti varieties</i></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Also available in the local supermarket were a selection of similarly packaged Morettis, representing various regions. I consider Moretti to be a decent quality lager, so I thought I’d get these because they’d also be decent additions to my distinct beers total. The ones I found were:</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>Lucana </i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">(5.8%), an amber ale with a scent of laurel (?) and a slight flavour of eucalyptus and mint (?!). Not things I’d normally be looking for in a beer… I thought it tasted gingery, but that could be my uncultured palate failing to identify eucalyptus. 2 out of 5.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>Toscana </i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">(5.5%), a dark honey lager with “a chestnut aroma and scents of dry erbs and pine”, according to the </span><a href="http://www.birramoretti.com/famiglia/le-regionali/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">website</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">. I had no comment for this, but scored it 3 out of 5.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c2qtoEGDQeQ/WIpY-nUp_wI/AAAAAAAACAA/a2S1-dpt60w1f5BEid8_ZclAfk2vx5ELQCLcB/s1600/moretti-pugliese.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c2qtoEGDQeQ/WIpY-nUp_wI/AAAAAAAACAA/a2S1-dpt60w1f5BEid8_ZclAfk2vx5ELQCLcB/s200/moretti-pugliese.jpg" width="120" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">regional Moretti</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>Friulana</i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">(5.9%), a light yellow lager that tastes of apples. It really does. Fuck knows who wants their beer to taste of apples. I scored it 2.5 out of 5.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>Piemontese </i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">(5.5%), an amber lager that is supposed to taste of blueberries. I wasn’t able to detect that, and scored it 3 out of 5.</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Pugliese (5.6%0, an amber beer, that I actually wrote that I hadn't been able to find. I certainly hadn' logged it. Nevertheless, now that I come to post this, I find a picture, proving that I did find it. </span></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"></span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">I wasn’t able to get the </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>Pugliese </i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">or </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>Siciliana </i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">varieties but, as the ones I did try all seemed to be the same lager with an external influence of one kind or another – and as I didn’t enjoy them all that much – I think it’s safe to assume that I didn’t miss out on too much. Anyway, as we’ll find out shortly, there were other beers to be concerned with.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Nardini</i></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: small;">The next job was to pick out a bottle of grappa to drink during the week. It was a mammoth task as, as you can see from the photo, there was a veritable butt-load to choose from. And they were all well within the limit of my budget.</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BJQctPUqmXo/WIpWu9PoO4I/AAAAAAAAB_k/KLMyQs2Zx1o1YSfrkZs88hfJyWMOz_BIwCLcB/s1600/garda-supermarket-grappas%2B%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BJQctPUqmXo/WIpWu9PoO4I/AAAAAAAAB_k/KLMyQs2Zx1o1YSfrkZs88hfJyWMOz_BIwCLcB/s320/garda-supermarket-grappas%2B%25282%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a selection of supermarket grappas</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">I went for the </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>Nardini </i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">because I’d heard of it, it was a full 70cl, and it contained a cosy 50 ABVs. You’d be looking at around £37 plus P&amp;P in the UK, while mine was around 15 euros. That was a large factor in my decision – the fact that I was already interested in trying it, and that I knew I wouldn’t want to buy it at home – why not buy it here, where it’s cheap?</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gYBsJ0yonjI/WIpZgYK-ODI/AAAAAAAACAE/U72kE2UNiycYer-P2dDv8VFFD_4nO0KwQCLcB/s1600/nardini-aquavite.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gYBsJ0yonjI/WIpZgYK-ODI/AAAAAAAACAE/U72kE2UNiycYer-P2dDv8VFFD_4nO0KwQCLcB/s400/nardini-aquavite.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nardini - and a view</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">There was a bit of confusion in that the label states “</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>Aquavite</i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">”, so I wasn’t sure whether this actually was grappa (once I got it back to the apartment). I looked for it on various websites and alls I could find was an identical bottle that said “grappa” on the label. Finally, I have to conclude that they are the same since fact of the matter is that </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>aquavite </i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">is merely a synoynym of </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>distillate</i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">. So grappa </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>is </i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">an aquavite of grape pomace. It’s not for certain, but it’s the best I can ascertain from the information available.</span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">As far as the drinking is concerned, it tastes like grappa, the extra alcohol gives the spirit a nice, full body and an extra, not un-welcome sweetness. I tried it straight at first, and figured at 50% a bit of water would be in order, but over the course of a couple of evenings I realised I’d been preferring it straight, so that was how I proceeded and then finished it.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: small;">What with everything else I drank during our stay (mostly during the evening when the day’s driving was definitely done) 70cl was almost a struggle to get through. One glass was nudged off the corner of a table (and smashed) by Mrs Cake, but nevertheless, I had to drink four large glasses on the last evening of our stay. By this stage, Brexit had cast a gloomy shadow over everything, but the cheap cigar I picked up at the bottom of the hill made everything better – until the next day when we’d have to find out how much Mrs Cake nearly driving us off a cliff would cost us with the rental company, and what returning to a politically divided UK would bring.</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Nardini – this bottle at least – is far from the best example of grappa I’ve enjoyed so far. It is perhaps a little too rugged, too utilitarian. I suspect some Italians might tell you that’s how grappa should be, but I’ve been coming across some beautiful, refined examples in the last few years (as you’ll know if you read this blog), and I prefer those.</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>Wine Tour Part One</i></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tZxhS0ye-SM/WIpWTOuHABI/AAAAAAAAB_g/d22RXfI6Kd4i0ZxIKmbc-hWVX6wmdjRnQCLcB/s1600/cantina-wine-tour-i.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tZxhS0ye-SM/WIpWTOuHABI/AAAAAAAAB_g/d22RXfI6Kd4i0ZxIKmbc-hWVX6wmdjRnQCLcB/s200/cantina-wine-tour-i.jpg" width="120" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">phone notes</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">In my pre-trip research I’d laid the foundations for some potential grappa tours – one such being an excursion to some distilleries in the Brescia region, to the west of our location, and the other being to the east, in the Vicenza area. These are easily accessible from the region around the southern end of Garda – as indeed is the Trento region, as we’d found out last time – but with our little girl still a month shy of a year old, we ultimately decided to err on the side of caution when it came to road trips. So instead of embarking on journeys that would take an hour or more (in the outward direction), we decided to keep our focus within 15 to 30 minutes of our home. Our host’s <a href="http://lovelakegarda.net/" target="_blank">website </a></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">showed that there was a world of wine within our grasp and, as had been the case in </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Tuscany</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">, a lot of these vineyards, wineries and cantinas also produced their own grappas.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: small;">For the most part, they are open to the public from Monday to Saturday from 8.30 until 12, and then from 2 until 6 (give or take half an hour, depending on individual preferences). On this first outing we tried to arrive at our first target for afternoon opening. This should allow us to visit two or three places, then get back to the apartment in time for little Sylvie’s afternoon nap.</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Now, we couldn’t find every cantina that was on our list of possibilities, but I had some backups (hastily prepared using the wi-fi at the apartment), so here’s what we got.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://lealidimonteacuto.it/" target="_blank">Monteacutodi Leali Antonio</a> - Just a few minutes out of Salo, on the SS572 that skirts around the south western end of Garda, the satnav instructs you to turn right onto a country lane that leads by vineyards and to the tiny settlement of Puegagno del Garda. I park next to the fields, turning the car around in the expectation that we’ll be heading back to the main road after this.</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: small;">I go to do a little recce, to make sure we aren’t getting the baby out of her car seat for no good reason, and find a sign directing me into a little courtyard. There’s no one obviously around, but it is just after lunch, so I go back and get Mrs Cake to come exploring with me. </span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: small;">After a minute or two, and with the help of a dog, I get the attention of a lady who comes down to help. She’s friendly and welcoming and doesn’t speak a word of English, but she’s happy to show us her showroom and let us sample some products. As with most Italians, she loves to see little Sylvie.</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">After a couple of purchases (Mrs Cake selects some pink fizz – Turmalino at 8 euros – and I some artfully packaged grappa, white in a dark glass bottle for 13 euros for 50cl), we head out encouraged, into the heat and back to the car for round 2.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dWMbKrItzJI/WIpcyV18c0I/AAAAAAAACAk/Tkkw_gzt17MNkpYNlbocXsL7TznG9fkOQCLcB/s1600/Franzosi%2B%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dWMbKrItzJI/WIpcyV18c0I/AAAAAAAACAk/Tkkw_gzt17MNkpYNlbocXsL7TznG9fkOQCLcB/s640/Franzosi%2B%25281%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At the Franzosi showroom</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://cantinefranzosi.it/en/" target="_blank">Cantina Franzosi</a> – It soon turns out that turning the car around was a waste of effort because our next destination is behind us and only just up the road. I briefly consider walking because the satnav suggests it’s not far, and it seems easier than putting the baby back in the car seat. I don’t act on that, and it turns out that it’s a bit further than I thought – not very, but far enough to drive.</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: small;">In contrast to Monteacuto, Franzosi is a larger, more industrial operation. I’m thinking that still makes it seem bigger than it is, but it is a more modern building with a car park, a warehouse and a forklift truck. At the back is a large and well-stocked showroom with many varieties of wine and grappa (one particularly fancy looking 3 year old at 43 euros for 50cl) as well as oils and vinegars.</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">By now little Sylvie is starting to get a little antsy, so I walk her around the building a little, trying not to bother the employees and keep her away from things she maybe shouldn’t be touching. She isn’t wearing shoes and the floor of the warehouse quickly turns her little feet black.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Meanwhile in the showroom Mrs Cake is being plied by the friendly host with four generous glasses of various wine varieties. Every now and then I hoist up little Sylvie and return her to this starting point before she gets herself in trouble. A couple of varieties of grappa are presented also, and we both select </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>Rebo </i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">for our purchases – partly on the recommendation of our host. I could afford, and even be open to buying the 3 year old but as I’m already aware that grappa doesn’t tend to survive ageing more than 2 years all that well, I think it’s telling that it isn’t recommended to me. I also decide to pick up four new grappa glasses. I forget how much Mrs Cake’s wine cost, but my grappa was 14.50 for 70cl.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.roccolobertazzi.it/english-version--.html" target="_blank">IlRoccolo</a> – we fail to find the next cantina on our list, so we abort that one and instead come to </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>il Roccolo </i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">in Polpenazze del Garda. Once again we are greeted warmly and treated to fresh wine samples, grappa samples and even finger foods for the baby. Mrs Cake selects a bottle of red for herself and a bargain white for our neighbour who is looking after Ruby the cat while we’re away. I also plump for another grappa, making it three for three. We’re already most of the way to achieving our take home target of four bottles each (and one for the neighbour).</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: small;">It’s time to head home and relax while the little lady sleeps.</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-42czkUoReN0/WIpXJTSSRgI/AAAAAAAAB_o/1h66l7g4h-MwAzylz8GCZHAKJ0xI0YRpwCLcB/s1600/Manerba-beers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="384" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-42czkUoReN0/WIpXJTSSRgI/AAAAAAAAB_o/1h66l7g4h-MwAzylz8GCZHAKJ0xI0YRpwCLcB/s640/Manerba-beers.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rarrw! Manerba brews</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.manerbabrewery.it/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>ManerbaMicrobrewery</i></span></a></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Now, this is a place we went to last year to pick up one of each of their various beers. It’s a short drive from where we were staying, and indeed, close to many of the cantinas we visited during our stay. There was no one else there the first time we went, so we just picked up a box of 8 or 9 beers and went on our merry way. This time – after an occasion where we tried to go before they’d opened – we figured we might be able to get an early evening dinner while we picked up our beers. </span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">It was probably about 17.30 when we got there this time, and it was thriving. We were sat outside with an Italian couple who were interested to know about the Brexit thing (though there was a great language barrier, so we talked a little bit about football instead), where we could listen to the rock n’ roll soundtrack and see a procession of people call in either for their own dinners or to pick up a box of beers. </span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: small;">In terms of food, they’ve gone for a kind of American roadhouse type menu – burgers, wings and that, so it probably doesn’t provide the authentic Italian dining experience that many tourists would be looking for, but it was decent enough food.</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: small;">And the beer…</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">The branding has been changed somewhat; shifting from a simple but classic look with plain labels and a small </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>follow the bear </i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">style emblem to stark black and electric, </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>ZX Spectrum</i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">-type colours with a simple image representative of a snarling bear. I prefer the old style, but Mrs Cake saw the merits of the new one.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>Luppulula, 5.2% </i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">– this one hadn’t been available last time, and it was the one I chose to drink on draught with my meal (it wasn’t available in a bottle). It’s classed as a pilsner, but it’s very light in body and in colour. 3/5</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>Fiordalisa, 4.8% </i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">- this is a wheat bear, which is usually a favourite genre of mine. That is reflected in the score, and that, at this point I’d given up relying on the fridge to get my beers cold, and had started sticking them in the freezer for 40 minutes prior to opening. 4/5</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qnFGdukEWNE/WIpXwRwxrkI/AAAAAAAAB_w/227kzRZUNioXGiuCtL7FDYkqy3jtjT67QCLcB/s1600/Manerba-la-bionda-ii.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qnFGdukEWNE/WIpXwRwxrkI/AAAAAAAAB_w/227kzRZUNioXGiuCtL7FDYkqy3jtjT67QCLcB/s200/Manerba-la-bionda-ii.jpg" width="120" /></a><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>La Bionda, 5.2% </i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">- a </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>Helles </i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">style lager, I scored this quite low. I must have been a little disappointed. 2.75/5</span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>La Rocca, 6.8%</i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">- a </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>Belgian Tripel</i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">that comes in one of those oversized bottles, topped with a cork. 4/5</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>Cucunera, 7% </i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">- a good strong </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>bock</i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">, and a favourite of the range for me. 4.5/5</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>Weizen, 5.2% </i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">- a Hefeweizen and, again, a very good one. 4.5/5</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>Hop ‘n’ Roll, 4.7% </i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">- a pale ale, another favourite. 4.5/5</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>Rebuffone, 6.7% </i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">- also presented in an oversized bottle, this </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>Belgian Dubbel</i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">didn’t quite reach the heights of the last three, but still; 4/5.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>Wine tour part 2</i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: small;">You may not believe it, but a good smattering of months has passed since I last wrote anything on this post. I don’t know what happened, but suddenly I just couldn’t be bothered to write it anymore. Luckily, that’s all over with now and I feel like I can proceed again, though I have to warn you, my memory has faded somewhat and I might not be able to recall all the details. At least that means it won’t take as long to write – or read – right?</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: small;">So anyway, our second wine tour was a chance to mop up some of the cantinas that were either a little too out of the way, or that we didn’t have time for on our previous excursion. We didn’t plan a big one though, as having already purchased 3 bottles of grappa and 4 bottles of wine, we simply didn’t have the luggage capacity to buy any more. I figured then that we could visit two cantinas, buying a bottle of wine at one and a bottle of grappa at the other – you don’t have to, but you kind of would prefer to be able to buy something everywhere you visit to make the effort the proprietor has put in worthwhile. </span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Our first stop,<a href="http://www.lechiusure.net/" target="_blank"> </a></span><a href="http://www.lechiusure.net/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">LeChiusure</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">, turned out to be something of an unpleasant experience. Let’s make no bones about it. It was quite hard to find, with roadworks blocking the route the satnav wanted to take, and when we got there we ended up going through the wrong entrance, which meant strolling across some beautiful grounds that really ought to have been reserved for the family. They didn’t seem to mind, but we did feel we were imposing on their privacy.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">In the showroom Allessandro Luzzago was already concluding business with a couple of visitors from the UK – visitors who were casually buying a couple of cases of his wine. Through this, a couple of sample bottles were already open, though one of the customers recommended we try the </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>Portese</i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">. We requested to do so, and the proprietor opened a new bottle for us. Mrs Cake decided to buy that, and the annoyance on the proprietor’s face at opening a new sample bottle to secure a purchase of only one bottle was unmistakable. He quickly tried to make out it didn’t matter, but we knew that really it did. Really, I could understand this, but everywhere else we went the proprietors opened fresh bottles at the drop of a hat, and were delighted no matter how little we wanted to buy. I suppose it’s possible that most other cantinas can put these open bottles to good use later the same day, while perhaps Le Chiusure doesn’t have that kind of set up. Nevertheless, it left a bad taste in our mouths and left us apprehensive about continuing our adventure.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Was the wine any good? Well, as you know, I don’t tend to comment on wine. It seemed fine to me.</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">We had been late leaving the apartment that day – a result of keeping our clocks on UK time, to facilitate little Sylvie’s naps, remember - so when this first visit was concluded it was nearing lunch time, and all the cantinas would be closing. We decided to head into the nearby town of San Felice del Benaco and grab some lunch, then see how we felt after that.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">After that we felt like maybe calling at </span><a href="http://www.turinavini.it/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>Turina</i></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">, which we’d spotted was on the main road through the industrial state at Manerba. It can be tough to pad out two hours though, even with lunch in southern mainland Europe, so we arrived at the site a good 20 minutes before it was due to open. The car park was bathed in direct sunlight, and little Sylvie was uncomfortable and upset, so we ended up parking under the only shade, which was actually in the middle of the road around the building.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">It wasn’t a very happy time, but eventually someone arrived to open up, and they actually let me in early. He seemed confused by my presence, and my clumsy attempts at conversation got me nowhere, so I ended up just purchasing a bottle of </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>Invecchiata</i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">, the aged grappa for 14 euros (I think). Finally we could head back to the apartment, and spend the rest of the afternoon drinking and relaxing by the pool. </span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Final Days</i></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Brexit did cast a gloomy air over proceedings (and did pretty much ruin our holiday – and indeed, much of my waking life since. I wonder if anyone else is as worried about all this as I am?), but that didn’t stop us trying to get our party on for the last couple of days. The Manerba beers were dwindling, and it was time to revisit the supermarket and see what I could add to my distinct beers for the week. </span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Q6iPBpJQG9c/WIpVw0_EDBI/AAAAAAAAB_c/gmrOQ3xU3X0YmAu9v3wNcB80WvnbozdTgCLcB/s1600/bad-brewer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="384" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Q6iPBpJQG9c/WIpVw0_EDBI/AAAAAAAAB_c/gmrOQ3xU3X0YmAu9v3wNcB80WvnbozdTgCLcB/s640/bad-brewer.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bad Brewer, but, presumably they mean bad in a good way</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">What I picked up this time were three varieties of </span><a href="http://www.badbrewer.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Bad Brewer</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">, an Italian brand described as </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>street food beers</i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">– so they’re small bottles, and funkily branded – presumably intended for drinking with fancy burgers.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Now, as I said a little earlier, all this happened a while ago now, and I can’t remember much detail. Untappd tells me though that the </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>Pale Ale </i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">scored 3.5/5 and the </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>California Common </i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">and </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>Amber Ale </i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">both scored 3/5.</span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Finally I picked up a super strength Dutch lager, whose cans had caught my eye – all shiny and gold, like. Even more importantly, this 8.6 Gold by </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>Bavaria Brouwerij</i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">was 6.5% ABV. But it only scored 2/5.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><i>Duty Free</i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Finally it was time to head home and find out what life in a fractured and divided Britain was now like. I’d been reading articles about increases in racism and hate crime, Corbyn’s shadow cabinet had resigned – which at first seemed likea good thing – and it all seemed like a great big shitstorm. I actually wished I’d been home the whole time, so that I could at least see things from my own perspective. The distance of a bit of a continent was distorting.</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: small;">First though, there was the prospect of Duty Free. I’m sorry to say, that once we sorted out the damage to the rental car and got through security and all that, I had no enthusiasm for extra purchases left in me. I also felt a little rushed and didn’t have the luxury of time to adequately evaluate what was on offer. I did have a quick peruse, but all the grappa looked to be around twice the price it would have been in the supermarket. I should perhaps have looked at vermouth or even an Italian chocolate liqueur I’d heard about, but like I say, my mind just wasn’t in the right place.</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: small;">We went home. Life, for us at least, was pretty much the same as it had been when we left, it was just hard to feel upbeat about the future. I think I’m used to that feeling now. Shit happens, we’ll deal with it. It doesn’t necessarily stop you feeling low, but you deal with it, don’t you?</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: small;">There will be no trip back to Italy in 2017 unfortunately, and probably no trip to France either – which was something we’d been planning – because redecorating the hallway and carpeting the upstairs bedrooms is looking likely to cost £2k. But that’s life, isn’t it? There’s always next year, and this year’s going to be good anyway. Little Sylvie continues to develop, and there are loads of beers and spirits to try. Let’s get on it.</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: small;">And if you come back next week, I’ll be looking at the grappas I picked up that week in a little more detail.</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span>Neil Cakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11195359194982167881noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754272455064185116.post-8892052089652566592017-01-26T11:30:00.000-08:002017-01-26T11:30:57.723-08:00Spirit Log: Wild Turkey... 81?<div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fa9jPLxqA8c/WH5z_Ep8UqI/AAAAAAAAB_I/t0fQvboNR1Qqb7l5qzomvbWLJieIFGtAgCLcB/s1600/Wild-turkey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fa9jPLxqA8c/WH5z_Ep8UqI/AAAAAAAAB_I/t0fQvboNR1Qqb7l5qzomvbWLJieIFGtAgCLcB/s400/Wild-turkey.jpg" width="240" /></a>I’d been intending to buy a new bottle of tequila at the start of the month, but I’m at that stage now where, if I want something of decent quality that I haven’t had before, I have to spend somewhere around £30. Given various economic factors, I couldn’t really be sure that was something I could afford to do, so instead I put thirty quid aside and told myself I’d get it later in the month if it looked like I was going to be (slightly more than) ok.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">The month slowly passed, and I thought, <i>goo on then</i>, and added a bottle to my basket. I realised though, that I was heading off on holiday in a few days, so I might not be around to take delivery. I didn’t want to be worrying about it while I was away, so I decided to put the purchase off once again. I had ended up spending <a href="http://dihuli.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/how-much-is-bottle-of-beer.html" target="_blank">£15on a single bottle of beer</a> anyway, that hadn’t been planned, so I could look at this as a £15 saving.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Then Mrs Cake said she was going to Tesco to stock up on food for a barbeque, and did I want anything. I had a quick look at Tesco Online, and found they were selling Wild Turkey 81 for £15, and told Mrs Cake to get that if they had it.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">They did, but look at this; it ain’t Wild Turkey 81 no mo’. It’s still 40.5%, but now it’s just “Wild Turkey”. This new bottle actually makes it look like a shit supermarket own brand blended scotch, but that neck and stopper lend it a slight touch of class, I suppose.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Fifteen quid is good value though, and a price I’m happy to pay to see how the basic expression compares with the premium <a href="http://dihuli.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/spirit-log-wild-turkey-kentucky-spirit.html" target="_blank">Kentucky Spirit</a><b></b>that I was drinking earlier in the year.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Now, I opened this at poker night which, by rights, all bourbon should be opened at, but it led to nearly half the bottle being consumed on that one occasion. And this is good bourbon – it isn’t complicated, but it is tasty, replete with all you expect from the genre; sweet and playful. As you’d imagine, it isn’t as full-bodied or rich as the <i>Kentucky Spirit</i>, but it’s possible that it’s all the more enjoyable for that. There’s no messing around with water and, given the comparative prices, you can just enjoy this for what it is, instead of having to ask whether it was worth the extra outlay. I almost feel like I was getting cash back. I’m a little disappointed that I’m half a bottle down already, but then I just remember that it was only £15. I doubt I’ll ever get it this cheap again, but you’ve got to take it when you can get it. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Wild Turkey’s merits shouldn’t be understood purely in terms of value though. That would be to sell it short, because it’s very good. Not as luxurious as all-time bourbon favourite, <a href="http://dihuli.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/american-booty-part-1-woodford-reserve.html" target="_blank">Woodford ReserveDouble Oaked</a>, but seriously enjoyable. <i>Kentucky Spirit </i>though, nearly made my 2016 Spirits of the Year list. Mind you, look at the price of <i>that</i>. I can’t say it’s <i>that </i>much better than this standard Wild Turkey – though it is better.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><br /><br /></div>Neil Cakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11195359194982167881noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754272455064185116.post-62438834970449276322017-01-10T12:18:00.000-08:002017-01-10T12:18:51.831-08:00Aldi vs Lidl: Beer Edition!<div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--z0eyIltyLc/WHU9cdqZLWI/AAAAAAAAB-0/giARCN8IHzwn40isiVFRS7jBAPwl4K_5gCEw/s1600/aldi-german-beers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="384" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--z0eyIltyLc/WHU9cdqZLWI/AAAAAAAAB-0/giARCN8IHzwn40isiVFRS7jBAPwl4K_5gCEw/s640/aldi-german-beers.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">some of Aldi's Oktoberfest themed beers</td></tr></tbody></table>I’ve been comparing the two major budget supermarkets on their quality of spirits for some time now, and I just realised that (once again, thanks to <a href="http://dihuli.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/distinct-beers-challenge-climax-results.html" target="_blank">The Distinct Beers Challenge</a>) I’ve enough experience to compare them on the quality of their beers, too. Both outlets have exclusive brands, and both get in their fair share of guest and seasonal beers, so if that isn’t a reason to keep drinking, I don’t know what is. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Now, I’ve been shopping at Aldi for a lot longer than I’ve been visiting Lidl, and while at first I thought I would I just need to make a couple more visits to Lidl before we’re on level terms beerwise, it hasn’t turned out that way. Lidl’s turnover of beers has tailed off while Aldi’s has positively gone through the roof – first with a selection of 5 or 6 German beers for Oktoberfest, and then a whole new range of 10 or 11 British beers… for what seems like no reason at all! Hooray for Aldi. Sadly it makes it difficult to compare the two brands beer for beer right up to the present day. At first I thought that maybe I could draw a line under an equal number of beers and then do a part 2 after Lidl have added a few more. In all fairness, that doesn’t sound very interesting to me, and it makes it hard to draw any overall conclusions. This no doubt will be a topic I return to frequently, but I think it will be better all round if we just take more of an overview and see where that gets us.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Xf719tZiK8Q/WHU6WeDjjaI/AAAAAAAAB-c/SIvr_ywfMssSWrx9qVEhUM_qxoDT4pqzwCEw/s1600/Lidl-beers-ii.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Xf719tZiK8Q/WHU6WeDjjaI/AAAAAAAAB-c/SIvr_ywfMssSWrx9qVEhUM_qxoDT4pqzwCEw/s400/Lidl-beers-ii.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">first ever beer shop at Lidl</td></tr></tbody></table>Anyway, I intend to compare the beers then, on four categories: </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Exclusive brands – the cheap <i>made for Aldi/Lidl </i>stuff you find, including the low alcohol and shit cans. This can be a tricky one because some of the exclusive brands are trying very hard <i>not </i>to look like exclusive dirt market brands. A lot of them are made by actual brands anyway as well, so I’m just going to have to make a number of decisions and stick to them. If you don’t agree with any of my decisions, you have all of the comments section to stick your oar in.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">British guests – the kind of large bottled ales you get, that mostly seem to be around 4%. And anything else British of course! </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Foreign guests – probably cheaply imported from Germany and Belgium, but foreign nevertheless and possibly premium.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Seasonal gimmicks – those beers they get in at Christmas (usually with cartoony labels) or Halloween (usually pumpkin flavoured) or around Burns Night (Scottish).</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">The first task was to comb through all my previous <a href="https://untappd.com/" target="_blank">Untappd </a>check-ins and try to remember which beers I’d bought from either of these two dirt market giants. Next, a bit of classification and analysis, and finally, piece together some kind of narrative – perhaps with a bit more tasting inbetween.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">So I’ve done that analysis now and I’m going to have to find a place to start. How about…</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><i>Exclusive brands</i></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Yes, so these are the ones that you’re only going to find at the supermarket in question. Even these can be split into a number of categories, so it’s not destined to be simple. For one thing I’ve identified no less than <i>23 </i>exclusive brands (probably even more since I wrote that sentence) between the two supermarkets in the two and a half years since I started logging on Untappd<b>.</b></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YP4TYbul8oQ/WHU6zWEaf3I/AAAAAAAAB-w/92LtuVGg2OwqYoDv4nVbAI2nEIuwKGAtgCEw/s1600/Perlenbacher.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YP4TYbul8oQ/WHU6zWEaf3I/AAAAAAAAB-w/92LtuVGg2OwqYoDv4nVbAI2nEIuwKGAtgCEw/s200/Perlenbacher.jpg" width="120" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">looks like shit Heineken</td></tr></tbody></table>First off you have the shit Euro-lagers. At Aldi you’ve got Sainte Etienne (2.5/5) which is generally in cans, and the slightly more special bottled Sainte Etienne Premium (which I’ve actually scored <i>lower </i>than the standard one; 2/5), while at Lidl you’ve got Excelsior (3.9%, 1/5) in cans, and in bottles, Perlenbacher Premium Pils (4.9%, 2.5/5). The canned ones are packaged to look like shit beer, the Sainte Etienne Premium to look like shit bottled beer, and the Perlenbacher to look like Heineken – and hence, like shit bottled beer. You can see from the scores that none of them are anything to write a blog about. In their favour is that they are cheaper than comparably shit branded beers. I don’t want to talk about these particular products too much just now, because I have another post in the pipeline where I directly compare own brand supermarket beers. So most of the content is going to be in that one. For now you can see there’s little to choose between the supermarkets in this category.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">But what of the other exclusive brands I alluded to?</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Well, Aldi go a step further with their exclusive foreign ales, branching out into a German <i>weissbier</i>, Rheinbacher (5%, 2.5/5) and what looks like a Spanish style lager, Carista (4.6%, 2.5/5). Neither are anything to get excited about.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">And that brings us to the many exclusive British beers. So far I’ve counted 9 at Aldi and 7 at Lidl. All, with the exception of Aldi’s <i>Golden Crown</i> (4.1%, 2.5/5) are identifiably brewed by reputable British breweries. Interestingly, many of the breweries have made beer for both supermarkets, so that adds an extra dimension to our investigation.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Lidl seemed to be the first of the two supermarkets to offer its own “craft” beer range. I put “craft” in speech marks like that because… well they aren’t exactly premium. They come in standard 500ml bottles with cheap but consistent labels. And by ‘cheap’ I mean the paper quality is very poor. To give a <i>small brewery </i>aesthetic, they are allocated numbers – No. 1, No.2 etc, in addition to their various quirky names. All are in reality produced by reputable large scale breweries, though Lidl appear to have attempted pull the wool over our eyes by pretending they are brewed by a company called <i>Hatherwood Craft Beer Company</i>. Here’s a brief summary of how I’ve scored them and what I’ve thought of them as far as I can remember.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">The Golden Goose (3.8%, 3/5) by Wychwood, famously the fathers of <i>Hobgoblin. </i>This one’s a golden ale, and neither better nor worse than standard fare.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">The Green Gecko IPA (5%, 3/5) by Marston’s. A good ABV for your small financial outlay on this one. The score of 3 out of 5 of course denotes that it does the job but is nothing special.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">The Amber Adder (4.3%, 3/5) is also by Marston’s and also receives and average 3 out of 5. It is described as a “red ale”, so I’m not quite sure why it’s called “amber”. Amber is orangey – right?</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">The Ruby Rooster (a <i>brown </i>ale – there seems to be some confusion over colours among these beers; 3.8%, 2.5/5) is by Ringwood Brewery and scores below average. A score of 2.5 represents <i>not particularly nice, but nothing terrible about it</i>.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">The Purple Panther (5%, 4/5) is the jewel in the “Hatherwood” crown (strong, cheap and good), and is a porter.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">The Winter Warmer (5.5%, 1/5) could be classed as a seasonal beer, but I think its <i>exclusive </i>status supercedes that. It is brewed by Hogs Back Brewery and as you can see from the score, is awful. Part of that has to be down to the fact that seasonal spiced beers are not my thing at all, but only a very small part. Don’t be fooled into thinking this isn’t awful.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Finally we have Gnarly Fox (4.5%, 3/5), a lager brewed by Wychwood. I always buy the Wychwood beers because they are nicely branded and identifiable – in that when you see one, if you’ve paid the slightest bit of attention, you can remember whether you’ve already tried it or not. Sadly, as I’ve tried more of them, it appears Hobgoblin is the only one of any worth. The brewery’s two Lidl offerings are nothing to get excited about either.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Now, Aldi have clearly taken note of this <i>Hatherwood </i>ploy and decided to get in with their own professionally brewed, exclusive range. The labels are of the same cheap paper (though the designs are far more interesting), but they haven’t tried to fool you or I (the great British beer buying public) into thinking a patsy brewery has made them all. Some of them are credited to <i>Harper’s Brewing Company</i>, while the rest make no bones about the actual breweries that are responsible for them. However, and again they differ from Lidl a bit here, they <i>all </i>state “brewed exclusively for Aldi” on the label. These all hit the shelves at the same time, so it was quite a cheap month of at home drinking for me (excepting releases of Cloudwater’s DIPA versions 8 and 9), and made for an exciting day at the Eden Square shopping complex. Let’s have a bit of a rundown. I’ll start with the large bottles and finish with the smaller ones, because yes, I neglected to mention that Aldi have gone one better than their rival and offer a range of 330ml bottles as well as 500ml ones. I entered some comments about some of these on Untappd, which I’ll include for you here.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5IWfJ1kiBr8/WHU9eoaK9mI/AAAAAAAAB-4/ZqGcz8tKgbU1OxfgD1fVHrWQ94OjmI6rwCLcB/s1600/aldi-beer-range.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5IWfJ1kiBr8/WHU9eoaK9mI/AAAAAAAAB-4/ZqGcz8tKgbU1OxfgD1fVHrWQ94OjmI6rwCLcB/s400/aldi-beer-range.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">hit the jackpot at Aldi one weekend</td></tr></tbody></table>North Bridge Brown Ale (4.7%, 3/5) – <i>a so-so attempt at Newcy Brown</i>, brewed by Marston’s. That’s right, it’s not a patch on the real thing, but it’s not a bad cheap approximation. It’s half a point better than Lidl’s comparable Ruby Rooster.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Golden Crown (4.1%, 2.5/5). As you can well imagine, this is an attempt at a pretty standard golden ale. That’s never really been my genre, so the 2.5/5 tells you Aldi have pretty much hit the target. No specific brewer has been identified as creating this one. On Untappd I said, <i>this new aldi range looks the part, but so far they aren’t quite up to snuff</i>, which isn’t a turn of phrase I’d normally use, but there you go.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Medusa (5%, 3.5/5). Apparently brewed by Marston’s, this one, though it is labeled “Harper’s Breweing Co.” As I say, I think this is the equivalent of Lidl’s <i>Hatherwood</i>. Anyway, this is a red ale, and one of the better scorers. I wasn’t able to use the Untappd barcode scanner, and it was very hard to find it on the app.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Amber Stone (4.4%, 3/5). I haven’t been able to find out who the brewer is for this one. It’s credited to “Harper’s” and is apparently “contract brewed”. I got a 2 year anniversary badge on Untappd for logging this one, which seemed odd because I’d actually joined Untappd two and a half years previously.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Wild Bill’s IPA (5%, 3/5). Another collaboration with Marston’s. At the time I stated, <i>Pleasant at first, but soon changing to a burnt taste as the bitterness sets in. Still one of the best of these new Aldi offerings.</i></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Land of Liberty (5%, 3/5). The first of the small bottles is billed as an American IPA and is made by Sadlers. I said, <i>a bit fusty on entry, then pleasant citrus followed by too much bitterness</i>.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">All 4 One (4.5%, 3.5/5). A collaboration with Hogs Back Brewery, this one is an amber lager. No comments, but it scores pretty well.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Sunny Dayz (3.8%, 2/5). Late November is an odd time to release a summer themed golden ale, but that’s what Aldi have done with this second Hogs Back collaboration. I said, <i>something not quite right – like, a bit stale about this one</i>.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Red Rye IPA (4.7%, 4/5) – <i>a good one from Aldi </i>– and Twickenham Fine Ales. Indeed, the joint top scorer in this category along with Lidl’s <i>Purple Panther</i>. I think it would be worthwhile to buy 8 of these and keep them in stock for when I need to buy beers but can’t find any I want in the local supermarkets. If only the bottle was a little bigger…</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Spill the Beans (4.4%, 3.75/5). A coffee porter from Brains that I’ve dubbed <i>pretty good.</i></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">So what can we conclude in the exclusive British beers category? Well, for one thing there’s nothing particularly outstanding, but at least there is a good selection out there – and if you’re not fussy about quality you certainly can’t argue with the price. Some of them really are comparable to what I would classify as sub-standard established beers. In terms of comparison between the supermarkets, let’s just go on average scores. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Aldi racked up 10 beers, scoring 31.25. That’s an average of 3.125 per beer, which isn’t bad. I’m not going to go out of my way to prove it, but I reckon that’s probably a better average than all the beers on the shelves at a standard supermarket. Mind you, that would be a purely subjective conclusion.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Lidl on the other hand racked up only 7 beers, scoring 19.5 points. I need my calculator for this one; it’s an average of 2.786. That’s a little off the pace, and gives Aldi the edge.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><i>British guests </i></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Time now to move on to the British Guests category. In this one I’ll be judging the two retailers on the quality of branded beer that they get in from time to time. In terms of quantity it’s a little one-sided at the moment, with Aldi having 16 examples and Lidl only 8. Nevertheless, I think it’s enough to go on. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">On first glance you’re seeing a lot of the same brewers from the respective exclusive ranges – Brains, Marston’s, Wychwood – but you also get the likes of Sadlers (the dirt market king – being available as they are also in B&amp;M Bargains and Quality Save), Shepherd Neame, Robinson’s and Joseph Holt. You also get one or two weird ones like Williams Brothers’ <i>Fraoch Heather Ale</i> at Aldi. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I don’t want to go into too much detail here, as you will be familiar with some of these beers anyway, and otherwise I haven’t got much specific to say about them anyway. Instead I’ll give you a list of beers by retailer and their scores out of 5.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Aldi first – </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Two Tribes by Everards Brewery, 3.5/5</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Castle by Arundel Brewery, 4/5</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Sadler’s Hop Bomb, 4/5</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Sadler’s Mellow Yellow, 2/5</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">The Rev James Rye by Brains, 3.5/5</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Strongarm Ruby Red Ale by Camerons, 2/5</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Wells Bombardier Glorious English, 4/5</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Brains SA, 2.5/5</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">McEwan’s Export, 2.5/5</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Wainwright Golden Ale by Marston’s, 3.5/5</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Hobgoblin, 4/5</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Hobgoblin Gold, 3/5</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Fraoch Heather Ale by Williams Brothers, 3.5/5</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Golden Bolt by Box Steam Brewery, 3.75/5</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">A-hop-alypse Now by Camerons, 3.5/5</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Maple Gold by Joseph Holt, 3/5</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">That’s a total score of 52.25 to be divided by 16, leaving an average of 3.266. Again, not bad.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Bq4FYM2HOlY/WHU6bL4eNQI/AAAAAAAAB-c/lY4-Ll1pOuMnfyMNnBrEWooIQsF7a9kWgCEw/s1600/lidl-beers-iii.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Bq4FYM2HOlY/WHU6bL4eNQI/AAAAAAAAB-c/lY4-Ll1pOuMnfyMNnBrEWooIQsF7a9kWgCEw/s400/lidl-beers-iii.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lidl British guests</td></tr></tbody></table>Lidl then – </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Hobby Horse by Rhymney Brewey, 3/5</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ITrG9Vhq1UE/WHU6RJ97NYI/AAAAAAAAB-c/BhW4fJa0qVsScishgIahey44t9xoas6jQCEw/s1600/Lidl-beers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ITrG9Vhq1UE/WHU6RJ97NYI/AAAAAAAAB-c/BhW4fJa0qVsScishgIahey44t9xoas6jQCEw/s200/Lidl-beers.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">British euro-style lager</td></tr></tbody></table>Butcombe Gold, 2/5</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Tapping the Admiral by Shepherd Neame, 4/5</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Ginger Beard by Wychwood, 1/5</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Unicorn Black by Robinson’s 3/5</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Brains SA Gold, 3.5/5</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Korev by St Austell Brewery, 3/5</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Summer Sizzler by Shepherd Neame, 1.5/5</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I think we can see it doesn’t look great for Lidl at this point. Let’s see, it’s a total of 21 to be divided by 8, leaving a paltry 2.625.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">That’s interesting though. It shows that Aldi is better on both British exclusive and British guest categories, but it also shows that Aldi’s guest are marginally better than its exclusives while Lidl’s exclusives are marginally better than its guests. I think that’s quite useful. Take note of that.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><br /><br /><i>Foreign guests </i></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I’m afraid there isn’t much to compare in this category so far, since Aldi are quite prolific in their delvings into the European market, while the few times I’ve visited Lidl have only yielded two foreign guests. Those two were <i>Blanche de Namur</i>, a Belgian wheat beer and <i>Bornem Blond</i>, a Belgian blonde ale. They both looked the part, but sadly they didn’t taste it, scoring 2 and 1.5 out of 5 respectively.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Aldi are giants in this field though. I mentioned earlier in the post how they got in 5 or 6 authentic German beers for Oktoberfest, which routinely scored between 3.5 and 4 out of 5. From time to time they also have beers from French brewer, <i>Les Brasseurs de Gayant</i>. <i>La Goudale Biere de Abbage </i>(3.75/5)and <i>La Goudale Witt</i>(4/5) are good examples, while the gluten free <i>Grain d’Orge Bio Sans Gluten </i>was fucking awful (1/5).</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UKzBxFCZJcY/WHU6X7ni_-I/AAAAAAAAB-c/X9voIskLncQIikDQoZDkihO9E1Vl6_o_QCEw/s1600/Ambar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UKzBxFCZJcY/WHU6X7ni_-I/AAAAAAAAB-c/X9voIskLncQIikDQoZDkihO9E1Vl6_o_QCEw/s320/Ambar.jpg" width="192" /></a>Then there was alternative Spanish lager <i>Ambar Especial</i>. There’s a funny story about this one. An acquaintance was in Zaragoza and posted a picture of a local beer that he favoured over San Miguel and Cruzcampo and the like. He mentioned how it wasn’t available in the UK yet. It was funny because that very day I’d seen it in our local Aldi, and I think it was only 99p per bottle. Next time I went in I took a picture for him, and later, on his return home, he went straight out and bought what looked to be the stock for one whole store. Anyway, I only scored it 3.5, which isn’t bad.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><i>Seasonal gimmicks </i></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Ok, final section now before I start wrapping this up. It’s a fairly inconclusive one though, to be honest. I’ve only had the pleasure of trying one seasonal gimmick from Lidl so far – Shepherd Neame’s <i>Burns Ale</i> which I scored 2.5/5. Aldi have been getting all sorts in over the years though – Christmas themed ales like Reigndeer from Sadlers (3/5), Redbreast by Jennings (3/5), Yule Love it! By Thwaites (3.5/5), Rocking Rudolph by Greene King (3/5) and Wychwood’s Bah Humbug (3/5). They also embrace Burns Night (Blackwolf Brewery’s Rabbie Burns, 3.5/5) and Halloween (Wychwood’s Dunkel Fester).</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Anyway, these kind of beers aren’t really my kind of thing. I only buy them because it’s more or less a guaranteed distinct beer to add to my log. So I’m not going to compare across this genre – for now anyway.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><i>Conclusions</i></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">So which of the two budget supermarkets should you go to to fulfil your beer needs? I think it’s plain to see that Aldi is the choice for me. If Lidl is a lot more convenient for you, it has offerings that are worth a try, but Lidl consistently has the greater range, and it changes fairly regularly. Not only that, but the most important thing, the quality, is just that bit better. I’m not consistently buying by beers from Aldi just at the moment (do I do pick up anything distinct that comes in), but there’s certainly a case for doing so in preference to the mainstream supermarkets. Sure, the mainstream supermarkets have the range and they have the offers, but Aldi has great prices and solid alternatives that if you’re like me, you might find a little less depressing than the choices you have to make at Tesco or Sainsburys (or Asda or Morrison’s. You guys don’t escape my ire either).</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Over to you now. Please tell me about your favourite supermarket beers in the comments, and join me next week when I’ll be talking about something else, which I think will be a revisit of the standard Wild Turkey Kentucky Bourbon, but which, as ever, is subject to change if I haven’t written enough of it. See you then. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><br /><br /></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><br /><br /></div>Neil Cakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11195359194982167881noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754272455064185116.post-44305452581537865242017-01-03T12:16:00.000-08:002017-01-03T12:16:02.172-08:00Spirits - and Beer - of the Year 2016 <div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Ah, at last it is time for my annual Spirits of the Year post. I always look forward to this, but this year was a little different. You see, for the vast majority of the year, Spirit of the Year contenders came solely from the genre of whisky. Admittedly, it is mostly my fault in that I didn’t religiously try all that many other types of spirits, but it’s also the spirits’ fault in that the ones I did try just weren’t quite up to the standard I expect from a Spirit of the Year. It actually made me sad, and may have been partially responsible (along with getting more interested in reading, and finding it harder to divert funds towards the purchase of spirits) for the discouraging malaise that set in over the last four months of the year. I don’t mind telling you that I nearly stopped writing the blog. Buuuuut there have been so many nice comments over the years, and so many good times that I kept it ticking over, and in the end I was rewarded for my persistence with some late contenders.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">You might not think all the contenders being of the whisky persuasion is such a big deal, but this blog has never been just about whisky. It’s about all spirits – except gin, and sometimes it might even be about gin. Last year, <i>none </i>of the winners were whiskies. It would be fine if two out of the three were whisky as long as they were of different genres (at a push), but if <i>all the winners </i>are whiskies, I haven’t been doing my job properly. So who are this year’s great and good?</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><b>Whisky: Old Ballantruan</b> (50%, £39.52 for 70cl)</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I hope I haven’t brought you down too much in my introduction to this [normally] celebratory post. There were some good whiskies to choose from – three in particular spring to mind, but I won’t be mentioning them because you have to be a winner to get a mention here. This though, was the pick of the bunch, a no longer in production peated Speysider that stood up well to the behemoth that is Ardbeg 10. It is still available on line at the time of writing, so it’s not too late if you want to experience it. This is the no age statement bottling, by the way.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TLOvDXuoAKo/WGwDHIAvlJI/AAAAAAAAB9g/Db_OCbnl0TEe8VPz1WnY28cSI947OjRZACLcB/s1600/Old-ballantruan-vs-ardbeg-10-ii.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TLOvDXuoAKo/WGwDHIAvlJI/AAAAAAAAB9g/Db_OCbnl0TEe8VPz1WnY28cSI947OjRZACLcB/s640/Old-ballantruan-vs-ardbeg-10-ii.jpg" width="384" /></a></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><b>Vodka: Russian Standard Gold</b> (40%, £15 for 70cl)</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">The first of two late entrants. You’re going to have to wait a few months to read more about this and my final winner, as I only opened them in the last three or four weeks of the year. Be assured though, that they are well worthy of their places. Russian Standard Gold is an uncommonly good spirit. I was lucky to get this for £15 by all accounts, but I’d urge you to try it even if you have to go just above £20. It’s as full-bodied and full of flavour as any vodka I’ve ever had the pleasure to try and, there’s no definite way of knowing, but it might be even better than the last vodka to place in the final three spirits of the year, Stolichnaya Blue. It is even sealed with a stopper. As I say, more about this in the coming months.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hRiSLTJnIRM/WGwDz5A4SxI/AAAAAAAAB9k/W1tIx7IIWOQMEy36LHEjt9E9tPMZP90hACLcB/s1600/Russian-Standard-Gold.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hRiSLTJnIRM/WGwDz5A4SxI/AAAAAAAAB9k/W1tIx7IIWOQMEy36LHEjt9E9tPMZP90hACLcB/s640/Russian-Standard-Gold.jpg" width="384" /></a></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><b>Grappa: Leali di MonteAcuto Grappa</b> (45%, 13 euros for 50cl)</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Finally then, my favourite spirit genre. I drank one bottle of grappa over the week we spent back by Lake Garda and brought back four more. I was expecting them all to be supreme examples but, while they were by no means bad, this one was by far the stand out and coincidentally the last I chose to open. It was also the first of the producers we visited. Beautiful branding, a classy bottle and a sweet, delightful spirit inside. Definitely a good way to end the year.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8t56zNDctVw/WGwE0jXfAkI/AAAAAAAAB90/3K1CJiznDIIM0bFQj-U_H5y9W4Za3DGZgCLcB/s1600/Leali-di-MonteAcuto-ii.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="384" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8t56zNDctVw/WGwE0jXfAkI/AAAAAAAAB90/3K1CJiznDIIM0bFQj-U_H5y9W4Za3DGZgCLcB/s640/Leali-di-MonteAcuto-ii.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><b>Beer of the Year</b></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I’ve spent a lot of money on beer this year. This <a href="http://dihuli.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/distinct-beers-challenge-climax-results.html" target="_blank">Distinct BeersChallenge</a> thing has really taken over – even though we’re not really doing it anymore. I mean, it’s not a competition (or a graph) anymore, but it is almost a way of life (I’m up to 947 distinct beers at time of writing, have one in the cupboard, and a couple of beer shopping trips planned in the next few days). As a result I’m learning more about breweries and being more discerning about which ones I’ll try and especially which ones I’ll buy from again. It’s funny how many times I get asked whether I’ve finished all the beers – people don’t realise that breweries are creating new beers all the time, so it literally isn’t possible. More importantly, this year I had <i>a lot </i>of potential winners – I scored no fewer than <i>nine </i>beers a full 5 marks out of 5. This year’s winner though is <a href="http://cloudwaterbrew.co/" target="_blank">Cloudwater </a>of Manchester’s DIPA V9. So fruity, so full flavoured – like all their DIPAs (that I’ve tried) so far, but more so – so expensive, come to mention it. These DIPAs vary, but for 330ml you can expect to pay between £4.50 and £6.80. I think v8 touched the top end, while v9 was a little more reasonable. In regard to beer though, it’s about flavour, not price. Sorry, I didn't get a picture of this one, but well done to Cloudwater.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">All that remains then, is to contact this year’s winners with the good news and give you a little sneaky peak into what to expect in 2017. Hopefully the world won’t descend into all out nuclear war, we’ll get the Tories out of government, Brexit will work out better than we’re all expecting, Trump will get himself impeached, I’ll still have a job, things will get better and maybe we’ll all be able to raise a smile and even laugh again. Other than that though, I’ll be heading back over to Canada for a couple of weeks in the summer, so expect more Canadian beers and whiskies. I have a stag do in Amsterdam, so god knows what to expect from that. And there will always be more spirits and more pub crawls, in spite of the atmosphere of doom I started this post with. I will be instigating a new MO for the new year; the old procurement matrix whereby I categorised whiskies and bought whatever it threw up was turning out to be too expensive. So from now on, instead of trying to convince myself to spend nearly £100 on an 18+ year old Highland malt, I am going to try to stick to the rotation of regions, but I’m only going to make a purchase when it’s a good deal – or if I’m particularly excited about a purchase. I was simply buying too many things that were giving me no pleasure and making me feel guilty, and I don’t want my alcoholic explorations to be tinged with sadness anymore. We’ll see how we get on with that.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Thanks for reading, and thanks for sticking with me if you have. Merry Christmas, happy new year, let’s get fucking drunk. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><br /><br /> </div>Neil Cakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11195359194982167881noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754272455064185116.post-10924621414913223202016-12-21T11:40:00.001-08:002016-12-21T11:40:42.370-08:00How much is a bottle of beer? <div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Beer has become a little more important to me over the last couple of years and now things are getting out of control. It used to be (back in my formative days of drinking) that a pint in a pub was under £2 – yes, you could get 5 pints for under a tenner. Imagine how many nights out I could have on my salary. You could also get 4 cans of cheap lager for £2.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Then things started to change, and I’m not talking about inflation or devaluation or increases in VAT or anything like that. I’m talking about how beer suddenly became… hell, aspirational. I trace it back to when Stella wasn’t the most [reassuringly] expensive beer anymore. All these other premium continental lagers entered the market – Peronis and Staropramens. Then Hoegarden came and it was followed by a shitstorm of expensive Belgian beers. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">And then? Craft beer. All manner of breweries making all manner of beers – bitters, ruby ales, stouts, chocolate stouts, imperial stouts, oak aged stouts, milk stouts, porters, smoked porters, fruit beers, wheat beers, lagers, Helles lagers, pilsners, Trappist ales, golden ales, brown ales, IPAs, APAs, Black IPAs, imperial IPAs, Saisons, goses, Koln style beers, Vienna style, pale ales, strong ales, dark ales, spiced beers, bocks, blonde ales, sour beers, winter ales, Hefeweizens, Schwarz beers, roggenbiers… some of those are probably same, but there are also a host of others I haven’t been able to remember off the top of my head – and some fucker’s inventing new ones all the time anyway.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I first noticed the extremes when people like Brewdog started making beers that were 40% alcohol – just for the sake of it. At the time of writing they are selling 3 litre bottles of <i>Double Bastard </i>(11.2%) for £85. Then Manchester’s Port Street Beer House introduced the city to the beer menu (others may have actually done it first), and on it were beers that cost £70 – for just one beer. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Finally I was introduced to two breweries that would become my favourite – Derbyshire’s <a href="http://www.thornbridgebrewery.co.uk/" target="_blank">Thornbridge </a>and Manchester’s <a href="http://cloudwaterbrew.co/" target="_blank">Cloudwater</a>, and I started to try and get hold of any beer they made – culminating (or so I thought) in spending nearly £13 on Cloudwater’s <a href="http://dihuli.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/very-special-brews.html" target="_blank">Ardbeg Imperial Stout</a>.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A1sgelxgfy8/WFraV_AV_II/AAAAAAAAB9M/OCpsfduoAssbzz4NTrAX8kJPWa7ojr5GQCLcB/s1600/thornbridge-lukas.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A1sgelxgfy8/WFraV_AV_II/AAAAAAAAB9M/OCpsfduoAssbzz4NTrAX8kJPWa7ojr5GQCLcB/s320/thornbridge-lukas.jpeg" width="192" /></a>Needless to say, it didn’t stop there and it hasn’t stopped yet. I now need my favourite breweries to stop making these expensive beers, so that I don’t feel obliged to buy them. This week’s post actually started by being about Thornbridge’s recent collaboration with Brooklyn Brewery; <i>Serpent. </i>It’s a 750ml bottle, it’s 9.5% and I paid £15 for it, direct from the brewery thanks to a free delivery offer they had on (I actually saw it a few weeks later in our local bottle shop at £14.95, 5p cheaper than direct). </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">How special could this be? Well, I figured I’d wait for a summer afternoon with a cigar to find out. It’s a Belgian-inspired golden ale that has been aged for over a year with the lees that are used to ferment Oliver’s Cider apples.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Before that summer afternoon arrived, I was out shopping for another recent Thornbridge release,<i>Lukas</i>, and while searching I came across something even more exciting; <i>Love Among The Ruins</i>. This one is a 7% sour red ale that has been aged in Burgundy barrels, with cherries, for over a year. It’s only a 375ml bottle… but I paid £10.80 for it. That makes it more expensive by volume than the Serpent. </div><br /> <div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">When I returned to Mrs Cake, who had been waiting in the car, she said, “we could’ve bought little Sylvie a new pair of shoes for that”. Which made me feel great. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">So how did these beers do?</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><i>Serpent</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XuONBqt-v5c/WFrZzwgA1WI/AAAAAAAAB9E/kQyjCFB2eEoV3p3NE62HbD6wdAxf-LD8QCLcB/s1600/Thornbridge-brooklyn-serpent-iii.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XuONBqt-v5c/WFrZzwgA1WI/AAAAAAAAB9E/kQyjCFB2eEoV3p3NE62HbD6wdAxf-LD8QCLcB/s640/Thornbridge-brooklyn-serpent-iii.jpg" width="384" /></a></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I didn’t manage to save my cigar for the opening of this one. I had promised I would share it with Mrs Cake, then she went out one evening, so I decided to have the cigar and save the beer for when she was around.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Thornbridge have thoughtfully sealed this beer (and indeed <i>Love Among the </i>Ruins) with a cork so that you get a special opening experience. And it’s very tasty. I likened it to a white wine, with the apple flavour (that I didn’t know whether to expect from the lees or not) appearing in the sort of proportion that you might get from a white wine. It was crisp and elegant.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">As you’d expect from a 9.5% beer (stronger than <a href="http://dihuli.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/friday-night-experiment-carlsberg.html" target="_blank">Special Brew</a>), you get a nice buzz from this. One bottle, by rights, ought to last you an evening. I couldn’t really imagine drinking one of these all by myself. Belligerance would be right around the corner, I think. Fifteen quid does seem a lot for a single beer, but I would argue that you probably are getting fiteen quid’s worth of booze. <i>4.5/5</i></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><i>Love Among the Ruins</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Qf1QnXa8Erg/WFraDGc9gwI/AAAAAAAAB9I/gJhyH5g3X8YBhJZDfFMl9HZOn2bCLAs_QCLcB/s1600/Thornbridge-love-among-the-ruins-ii.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Qf1QnXa8Erg/WFraDGc9gwI/AAAAAAAAB9I/gJhyH5g3X8YBhJZDfFMl9HZOn2bCLAs_QCLcB/s640/Thornbridge-love-among-the-ruins-ii.jpg" width="384" /></a></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Sour beer isn’t really my thing, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t enjoyed one or two examples of this phenomenon in the past – Thornbridge’s <i>Tart</i> was one that I previously awarded 4 stars to. This one is probably a little bit better than that, though I didn’t see fit to award it any more stars at the time. It certainly isn’t too sour for me, but Mrs Cake recoiled in horror at it’s tanginess. <i>4/5</i>.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><i>Conclusion</i></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I think I’m going to have to be a bit more careful about buying beers that exceed £10 in future. Not that I regret getting these, it’s just that there seem to be so many of them. I don’t really want to encourage breweries in this kind of thing, even though I appreciate the effort they are going to in making new and special beers, and indeed the increased production costs it entails. Is it wise or sustainable? It sure is coming at an interesting time… but, I suppose, it means I must be able to afford it. It’ll be time to worry when I need it but can’t afford it anymore. But then there’s always supermarket own brand premium lager – as you’ll discover in a later post.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><br /><br /> </div>Neil Cakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11195359194982167881noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754272455064185116.post-49163781440319983452016-12-15T11:51:00.000-08:002016-12-15T11:51:37.197-08:00Drinks of Christmas: M&S Christmas Cocktail <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i5op77uXnAg/WFLzVZ51X0I/AAAAAAAAB8k/I6j2uOsTZ_kIiaApjFT0E8pWwifCk18iQCLcB/s1600/m%2526s-christmas-cocktail%2B%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i5op77uXnAg/WFLzVZ51X0I/AAAAAAAAB8k/I6j2uOsTZ_kIiaApjFT0E8pWwifCk18iQCLcB/s640/m%2526s-christmas-cocktail%2B%25282%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">&nbsp;A mystery shopper assignment accepted by Mrs Cake led us to the small Marks and Spencer at Lymm services one Saturday. The mission: buy two products and ask two questions. Sounded like an opportunity to pick up some <a href="http://dihuli.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/distinct-beers-challenge-climax-results.html" target="_blank">distinct beers</a><b> </b>to me. However, when we got there, Mrs Cake found this; M&amp;S Christmas Cocktail (20% ABV), a rum and dairy based drink at half price (£6 for 50cl, given that Christmas was more than two months past, and the use by date was May), that I immediately thought might make an ideal replacement for my <i>Irish Cream du jour</i> that I don’t currently recall.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZGInDRrzQS0/WFLzYDV1p2I/AAAAAAAAB8s/n7JH3nVQEy0KFQmsoaBJjgrKyQ3tC3syACLcB/s1600/m%2526s-christmas-cocktail%2B%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZGInDRrzQS0/WFLzYDV1p2I/AAAAAAAAB8s/n7JH3nVQEy0KFQmsoaBJjgrKyQ3tC3syACLcB/s320/m%2526s-christmas-cocktail%2B%25283%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a>Now, as with all M&amp;S products, the ingredients are listed right there on the bottle, and these include lemon and vanilla. And none of that made me think this drink would be all that different from Irish Cream. Let me tell you now: it is. I found out as soon as I poured it into my coffee cup the following day, and noticed that the “dairy” element is somewhat minimal. Undeterred, I continued making my coffee with the outcome being… unusual. It was a bit tangy and not at all creamy, but in all fairness, not unpleasant. Perhaps it wasn’t a combination I’d be keen to try to frequently, but given its appearance, surprisingly acceptable.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Next it was time to try in the recommended manner; over ice. Irish Cream excels in this manner, so how the M&amp;S Christmas Cocktail fared here, would make it or break it. Aaaaaand… break it it is. This just isn’t pleasant. Someone has made a mistake with this one. For a start, I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to combine dairy and citrus… something about curdling. Not to mention the unpleasant taste.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bSYbHgIWvv4/WFLzWjROL7I/AAAAAAAAB8o/4sR3xj-y310Kf0x_vSSOlUE-VEWHEuN1gCLcB/s1600/m%2526s-christmas-cocktail.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bSYbHgIWvv4/WFLzWjROL7I/AAAAAAAAB8o/4sR3xj-y310Kf0x_vSSOlUE-VEWHEuN1gCLcB/s320/m%2526s-christmas-cocktail.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">In the glass, it looks like what can only be described as… spunk.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">It isn’t sweet enough, it isn’t creamy and what on earth has it got to do with Christmas? I’d be gutted if I’d paid full price for this. In the end I had to tip it into a big glass of ice, and pretty much chug it, just to clear a bit of space in the fridge.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">How about you? Have you ever bought a dubious Christmas themed drink that doesn’t really seem to have any reason to exist? Let me know in the comments.&nbsp;</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Now, I might have overestimated how many Christmas-themed posts I've got this year, so unless I tap out something else real quick, next week might be something completely un-Christmassy. Anyway, come back and find out then, and the week after that I'll have my annual <i>Spirits of the Year </i>post, which I always look forward to, at least. Laters! </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><br /><br /> </div>Neil Cakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11195359194982167881noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754272455064185116.post-19729097326527362092016-12-06T11:51:00.000-08:002016-12-06T11:51:25.984-08:00Winter, Christmas and Festively-Themed Beers Challenge <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8ih-jDUjPR4/WEcU_zEa-qI/AAAAAAAAB8Q/LrIOmgX1SuEfz14SKXrLiNrWLfBikERuQCLcB/s1600/winter-beers-challenge-rogue.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8ih-jDUjPR4/WEcU_zEa-qI/AAAAAAAAB8Q/LrIOmgX1SuEfz14SKXrLiNrWLfBikERuQCLcB/s640/winter-beers-challenge-rogue.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><i>It's December! And despite not really being the biggest fan of Christmas, this is usually about the time I find some Christmas-themed things to write about. Then the month culminates with my highlight of the year; my actual highlights of the year, in the guise of the Spirits of the Year post. Last year I even added a Beer of the Year award, so that's something else to look forward to. I'm starting off this festive season with a challenge I - and a few others - undertook last Christmas...</i> </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">You don’t just complete a year long slog like the <a href="http://dihuli.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/distinct-beers-challenge-climax-results.html" target="_blank">Distinct BeersChallenge</a><b> </b>without replacing it. But what do you replace it with? Well, do you remember how I followed up two posts about the Distinct Beers Challenge with a post about Christmas themed beers? That’s right, a <i>Christmas Beers Challenge</i>. That is, drink as many beers that have some connection to Christmas as possible. Not just <i>winter </i>ales. No, there definitely has to be something Christmas-related about it – a punny name like <i>Yule Love It,</i>a cartoon reindeer on the label, the specific notice that said beer is a Christmas beer…</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">It got complicated early on because I received an early Christmas present of three festive ales from Staffordshire Brewery. One was a <i>Christmas Day </i>ale, one <i>Boxing Day</i>, and one <i>New Year.</i>I asked for a ruling from the other competitors, and the scope had to be widened to include anything that could be identified as a winter ale and any beer of an obviously festive or wintery nature, drunk between the start date of 27 November and 31 December 2015. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Normal Stella Artois with holly on the label wouldn’t count, but should Fosters rebrand themselves <i>Frosters </i>for the period, that would. Pumpkin beers were also allowed, though I can’t say I was in agreement with that. So as a direct result of <a href="http://www.untappd.com/" target="_blank">Untappd </a>and more specifically, the Distinct Beers Challenge, I had gone from deliberately avoiding these kinds of beers, to actually looking forward to being able to get them. It’s strange where your life will take you.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I started my campaign with Had Enough Brewery’s <i>Grumpy Santa Beer</i>, which is a classic of the genre – playing on the <i>bah humbug </i>theme and featuring a comic image of a grumpy (and probably alcoholic) santa on the label. It was listed on Untappd as a golden ale. I scored it a 4.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">After the three Staffordshire Brewery ales (the Christmas Day and Boxing Day ones each scored 4, while the New Year one scored 3.5), I called at Aldi, picking up Sadler’s <i>Reigndeer</i>, a misspelled winter ale with a reindeer on the label (which scored 3), then at Asda where there were no Christmas themed beers and finally Tesco, where Mrs Cake pointed one out that I had had already, but eschewing that one, I did manage to find Oakleaf’s <i>Christmas Ale</i>, packaged in its own tube, and worthy of only 2.5 out of 5. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I would be travelling to Canada on 11 December, so I was hoping that Christmas themed beers would be a thing over there, that would give me the edge on everyone else. I found a few more on a night out before heading across the atlantic, including Osset Brewery’s <i>Nervous Turkey</i>, which managed 3.5. I decided not to count <i>Treacle Stout</i> as, when I thought about it, what is explicitly festive about treacle on its own? Then there was Boggart Hole Clough Brewery’s <i>Winter Sunset</i> (-0.5/5 - it must have been really bad) and Caledonian Brewing Company’s <i>Winterbrau </i>(also 0.5/5).</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">So while everyone else was left to contend with a very wet December and quite possibly flooding, I headed to the <i>Great White North</i> and got stuck into the Canadian (and sometimes American) brews. Now, I can’t remember much detail, but here’s what I found:</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-woQzkVGj9oA/WEcU-twtVUI/AAAAAAAAB8M/41gZLLgKWhQ6kwIM5CoJrhILT4u-2ClIQCLcB/s1600/winter-beers-challenge-longest-night.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-woQzkVGj9oA/WEcU-twtVUI/AAAAAAAAB8M/41gZLLgKWhQ6kwIM5CoJrhILT4u-2ClIQCLcB/s200/winter-beers-challenge-longest-night.JPG" width="150" /></a>Granville Island’s <i>Lions Winter Ale </i>– 4/5. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Yukon’s <i>Longest Night</i> – 3.5/5. A black IPA – not specifically identified as a winter ale, but when is the longest night? In the winter. QED.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">H. Egerer’s <i>Winter Weisse </i>– 3.5/5. A Dunkelweizen, but it has ‘winter’ in its name.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Fernie Brewing Company’s <i>Black Mammoth</i> – 3/5. A bona fide winter ale, and the first of a few <i>massive </i>bottles that I picked up at Calgary’s finest liquor store, <a href="https://www.willowpark.net/" target="_blank">Willow Park</a>.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Postmark’s <i>Winter Red </i>– 3/5.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xu9_ATSDMrc/WEcU9hFYaUI/AAAAAAAAB8I/VsRxbRSRPr8kAXVYO46tgBnY4t1GdUGGgCLcB/s1600/winter-beers-challenge-postmark-winter-red.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xu9_ATSDMrc/WEcU9hFYaUI/AAAAAAAAB8I/VsRxbRSRPr8kAXVYO46tgBnY4t1GdUGGgCLcB/s200/winter-beers-challenge-postmark-winter-red.JPG" width="150" /></a>Grizzly Paw Brewing Company’s <i>Alpenglow </i>– 3.5/5</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Rogue Ales’ <i>Santa’s Private Reserve Ale </i>– 3.5/5. That last of the Willow Park haul isn’t labelled ‘winter’ or anything, but there’s a definite santa theme.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Village Brewery’s <i>Monk Chai Winter Porter </i>– 2/5, was a leaving gift from my brother-in-law.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I carded 16 when the deadline came, though Phil claimed it was only 14. This was still one better than his tally, and that being the case, I couldn’t be bothered to check. It was only when I came to write this article that I realised it was actually 17. So I win another beer challenge. Some competitors didn’t even try this time. I hadn’t been monitoring them while I was away, so I hadn’t any idea how they’d been doing. Given the overall sorry state of affairs though, I think I’ll have to invite other people next time. Friend me on Untappd (I’m neilcake), and I’ll figure something out.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><br /><br /> </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><br /><br /> </div>Neil Cakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11195359194982167881noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754272455064185116.post-41205955844260953232016-11-29T11:38:00.002-08:002016-11-29T11:38:47.484-08:00Spirit Log: Auchentoshan 15 Year Old 1999 Signatory <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lWSQEWHiOV4/WD3ZDUOEqBI/AAAAAAAAB74/1KmbezFNNq84k6PiXdJb2bOZtf2E0jF2QCLcB/s1600/auchentoshan-1999.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lWSQEWHiOV4/WD3ZDUOEqBI/AAAAAAAAB74/1KmbezFNNq84k6PiXdJb2bOZtf2E0jF2QCLcB/s640/auchentoshan-1999.jpg" width="384" /></a></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I embarked on a bit of an odyssey in selecting this purchase. I hope you won’t find what follows boring, but it all forms part of the narrative.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">It had come to my attention that a re-stocking was long overdue, though it’s not that I’ve been drinking more of late. You see, I like to keep lots of things in stock, so when I start to approach the bottom of a bottle, I have a tendancy to move on to something more volumous. Inevitably this eventually leads to a situation where nearly all your bottles are approaching their end, and you seem to be finishing something every time you have a drink. So with pay day in the very recent past, it was time to go shopping.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Before reaching my decision I had to forego some very tempting offers at Costco – a single cask Jack Daniels, because I’m saving potential US whisky purchases for an upcoming visit to Duty Free; a Hakushu because I wasn’t in the market for it; the Lapgroaig 10 that I’ve wanted to revisit for pure time, because I have had it before and Islay isn’t on my procurement matrix for a while yet; a Lagavulin 16 for the same reason; and a Tullibardine because I wasn’t looking for a Highland malt. Because, yes, I had already determined that this time around I was looking for a vintage Lowland malt. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Just for the record, I also had to forego decent offers on various Glenmorangies and Glenfiddichs in Sainburys because, if you let yourself, you could easily end up buying these all time time as they are in every supermarket, always on offer, and there always seems to be a new expression – there was even a <i>Midwinter Night’s Dram </i>from Glenmorangie, which struck me as odd on the hottest day of the year at the end of May.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Anyway, when it came to drawing up a shortlist it was all Auchentoshans and Glenkinchies. I can’t say I was finding the prospect of them all that exciting, but it’s all part of the whisky education and it means I’ll’ve completed the Lowland region before too long.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">So the cheapest malt to consider was Auchentoshan’s Valinch 2012 at £40.45 (at The Whisky Exchange). I didn’t want to go that cheap, though it is worth mentioning that this was selling at £60 at Master of Malt and a massive £70 at Amazon. Then you had various Glenkinchie distillery editions, dated between 1996 and 2003 and all retailing from £48.95 to £55.95 (all prices exclusive of P&amp;P btw). I wasn’t drawn to these because, despite looking the part, they’ve all been finished in sherry casks, and I’m a bit tired of that.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">What it boiled down to then, was a choice between three or four merchant bottlings of Auchentoshan – each blended from two casks. I couldn’t find any indication as to which of these bottlings might be the best to get, so I just took a decision based on economics, having compared prices across a number of suppliers.Just within, but veering towards, the outside of my price range was an 18 year old Signatory from 1997. That was just under £80. When I saw a (more or less) identical 1998 17 year old though, at just under £60, I figured that seemed like better value for money. Finally though, I made one last compromise because I found the 1999 15 year old at just under £50. That would leave a bit of cash to get some tequila too.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">In terms of the Lowland region, most of my experience has been with the now defunct <a href="http://dihuli.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/spirit-log-bladnoch-12-sherry-cask.html" target="_blank">Bladnoch</a> distillery. You might remember I was delighted by a ten year old, and disappointed with a cask strength 12 year old. Other than that, I have tried a single glass of the standard Auchentoshan once before. I remember not being impressed, but that’s the way it goes sometimes – it was a single glass so there’s really no way of knowing what I really thought of it.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Auchentoshan <i>triple </i>distils all its whisky, and this sets them apart from all other Scottish distilleries. Signatory, on the other hand, is an independent bottler supplying three types of product – 86 proof, cask strength and un-chillfiltered (this one belongs to the latter collection) – representing all of the distilling areas of Scotland. The Cask Strength ones have a particularly intriguing bottle, but this isn’t one of those. It’s a fairly standard bottle with a no fuss label and gothic lettering, and it comes in a silvery tin-cardboard hybrid tube. It is bottled at 46%.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">It is very pale in colour, and <i>very </i>light in body. I haven’t really had anything as light bodied as this before, and while I tend to prefer my whiskies full and oily, that isn’t a mark against the Auchentoshan. It’s just different is all. The nose is a little tangy, while on the tongue it almost feels like a gentle wash of wood that’s going to float up from your tongue and evaporate.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">It has slipped out of the bottle and down my throat very easily, so easily in fact that I don’t remember drinking so much of it. I must be pouring larger measures.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Anyway, it looks like I’ve only fully evaluated three merchant bottlings previously, and this one is going into 2<sup>nd</sup> place behind the <a href="http://dihuli.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/a-32-year-old-bunnahabhain-how-frickin.html" target="_blank">Bunnahabhain 1979</a> and ahead of the <a href="http://dihuli.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/musing-on-merchant-bottlings-hepburns.html" target="_blank">Fettercairn 7</a>with <a href="http://dihuli.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/home-tasting-like-boss.html" target="_blank">Scapa 2001</a><b> </b>bringing up the rear. As for comparisons with the single malt genre in general… I’m struggling to place it. Probably just outside the top 10 though.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><br /><br /> </div>Neil Cakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11195359194982167881noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754272455064185116.post-43562768704188678362016-11-22T11:57:00.000-08:002016-11-22T11:57:21.547-08:00What is post-fatherhood drinking really like? Part 2 <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2QmU1OQakCI/WDSi4Uoy2PI/AAAAAAAAB7k/_PLf6YK4sHo484RPejAL5tcJHNxAYYH_ACLcB/s1600/3-aged-grappas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="384" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2QmU1OQakCI/WDSi4Uoy2PI/AAAAAAAAB7k/_PLf6YK4sHo484RPejAL5tcJHNxAYYH_ACLcB/s640/3-aged-grappas.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">generic picture depicting the drinking of grappa </td></tr></tbody></table><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I was just reading <a href="http://dihuli.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/what-is-post-fatherhood-drinking-like.html" target="_blank">What is Post-Fatherhood Drinking Really Like?Part 1</a>, and I realised just how long ago I must have written that piece. I mention somewhere in there that it was still the first month of little Sylvie’s life, and I haven’t really thought about all that I wrote and all that has happened since. Little Sylvie is approaching 10 months old now, so I thought it might be worthy of a part 2. Even though I promised not to talk about kids again. I think it’ll be worthwhile though, and as it’s part 2, it’s kind of the same post anyway.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">So what’s been going on? What’s the 411? What are the cool jams?</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Well, I wrote back in that first post about getting into a routine, and that has proved vital. Little Sylvie now has bath and bed starting at 18.45, and is usually asleep by 19.30. Then she sleeps all the way through to somewhere between 06.00 and 07.00. Mrs Cake and I are usually knackered by 22.00, so we’re in bed soon after that and sleeping better than ever. We have <i>so little</i> free time, and for some reason that’s ok. Back before the little girl enriched our lives we had something like 6 or more hours of free time in the evening, and it wasn’t enough. Now we get 2 and a half hours, and it’s plenty.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I suppose the thing is, when you don’t have kids and you look at parents, you don’t see time they spend with their kids as free time. You see the kids as a burden, and it’s not like that. Time with your kids <i>is </i>free time. It’s something that you want to do. It’s like when my golf friends (see <a href="http://dihuli.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/golfageddon.html" target="_blank">Golfageddon</a>) asked me if I’d be going on their annual golf holiday next year, I couldn’t really see it and I wasn’t bothered. I was a bit gutted to have had to miss the last one at first, because there was a chance Mrs Cake might be going into labour, but now I don’t really want to spend a week away from my family.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Similarly, I’ve changed the way I go out. When I go on pub crawls now, I start early and I usually aim to be heading home around 9pm. Which is good, because I’m smashed and heading home before all the pubs get too busy and too full of nobheads. Then I can be in bed around my normal time and minimise my lie in the next morning. Even though the lie in has been sanctioned, I still don’t want to spend too much time in bed, missing hanging out with my little girl. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">The point is that all these things you might see as negatives – fewer lie-ins (I say fewer because they do happen), less “free time” – are not negatives.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">If Mrs Cake and I got out now, we go out in the afternoon and we take the little girl with us. Mrs Cake can’t have much to drink just yet because she is still breastfeeding, but that’s down to only four times a day (that may sound like a lot, but in the first few months it could be as many as 20 times!), and that means that if she wants to, once little Sylvie’s gone to bed, she can go a bit nuts. Currently the mother-in-law is visiting, and we’ve been taking advantage of that by heading out into Urmston after little Sylvie’s bed time for a few drinks. There’s also the option of staying over somewhere and taking little Sylvie with us, like when our friends Pablo and Veronica hired a narrow boat. We just took a small inflatable bath along and Sylvie had her bath in there. Then she slept on the bed at the front of the boat.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">The beer thing I talked about is still an issue from time to time – you know, where you want to enjoy a beer, but your little one requires attention meaning you can’t always drink it while it’s still cold. These days the specific reason is that little Sylvie wants to be walked around everywhere. She reaches out for your hands and groans until you take them, help her up, and then walk her around from the front of the house to the back and back again until it’s a meal time or bath time. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Occasionally you might pass within arm’s reach of your beer and you might be able to have a sip, but most times both your hands are occupied and you’ll just have to pass by. Also occasionally the little girl might stoop to pick something up and end up sitting for a bit. That’s your chance. Sadly none of this facilitates actually enjoying your beer. It’s just a collection of stolen moments, and they aren’t like forbidden fruit, it’s more like eating a rich and expensive desert too quickly. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">There’s still no such thing as a nice quite sit down while she’s awake. Mrs Cake and I can’t wait till she starts crawling and playing by herself, but that no doubt will be a whole new ball game, where we need eyes in the backs of our heads. Still, as long as we can do that while sitting down…</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Have there been any mishaps? Not really. There was one time I was playing with Sylvie while drinking a glass of grappa, and she jabbed out with her hand, causing me to spill it, and a drop to land in her eye. She didn’t like that very much.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Then there was one time in the middle of a beer when I had sat her on the sofa and we were playing, and she was having a lot of fun – so much fun that I got my camera out. I forgot how much she loves cameras, and was so busy trying to get some decent film that I failed to react when she leaned towards the camera to grab it and went head first on to the floor. She does this thing when she’s really upset where she does a little cry, then she stops breathing, turns pink, while you go, “breathe… breathe…”and she builds up a <i>massive</i> cry that she unleashes with demonic fury. Anyway, she did that.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><i>Postscript</i></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Not long after writing this post, little Sylvie suddenly became more self-sufficient, and will now play on her own, sometimes for as much as 40 minutes, and thus allowing her dad to sit on a comfy sofa and enjoy a beer slowly, as god intended. Happy days.</div>Neil Cakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11195359194982167881noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754272455064185116.post-4786110984549723062016-11-16T11:49:00.001-08:002016-11-16T11:49:48.000-08:00Spirit Log: Old Ballantruan <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fH_gK9rYjgw/WCy3vaRtw6I/AAAAAAAAB7Q/rtonZEOJNDsrKUGj-0t2EGKOPTvKErBAQCLcB/s1600/Old-ballantruan-vs-ardbeg-10-ii.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fH_gK9rYjgw/WCy3vaRtw6I/AAAAAAAAB7Q/rtonZEOJNDsrKUGj-0t2EGKOPTvKErBAQCLcB/s640/Old-ballantruan-vs-ardbeg-10-ii.jpg" width="384" /></a></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">It was back to the whisky procurement matrix for the focus of this week’s post. The target: a Speyside malt with no age statement or under 10 years old. I had a bit of a search, then made a list of targets and started comparing prices.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">At the lowest end of the pricing spectrum, and very tempting, was the Glen Grant Major’s Reserve. That was going for as little as £22 at one of the major supermarkets, but the handy price comparison on <a href="https://www.bringabottle.co.uk/" target="_blank">Bring a Bottle</a> showed that it frequently dipped as low as £18. I thought I’d wait for that to happen before dipping my toe in that particular bucket.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">The range then extended from an uninspiring Benromach 5, through an ugly but positively reviewed Cu Dhub, a Gordon and MacPhail bottling of an 8 year old Tamdhu and finished at the top of the price range with a classy looking Spey Tenne (which I always read as “spray tan”), tawny port finish.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">My heart had already been won though, by this 50% ABV, unchillfiltered Old Ballantruan. It isn’t a typical Speyside in that it is peated, but what can I say? I’m a sucker for peat, and it’s rare that I’ll pass up on those extra ABVs. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I made a note on my matrix that the next Speysider (and indeed, scotch) I buy absolutely must not be peated.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Now, Old Ballantruan is from the <a href="http://www.tomintoulwhisky.com/" target="_blank">Tomintoul </a>distillery, and it receives pretty much universal acclaim from the users on the main UK retailers. Let’s just have a little look then, at what Tomintoul is all about. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Presenting its product as “the gentle dram” (so you can assume this whisky will whisper tenderly in your ear and penetrate you slowly with plenty of foreplay and lubrication), the Tomintoul distillery is located close to the highest village in the highlands of Scotland (groovy), in the prestigious Glenlivet estate, though it is apparently only the second highest distillery. So is the highest distillery nowhere near a village, or is there a really steep incline between Tomintoul and the highest village? I never realised Glenlivet was an estate and not merely a distillery, so I found it confusing when I read Old Ballantruan was a Tomintoul malt, but the bottle stated “Glenlivet” on it. I’m not a fan of the standard Glenlivet, but that shouldn’t matter here.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">The Tomintoul website (at the time of writing) doesn’t make mention of the Old Ballantruan expression – similarly to how the Old Ballantruan bottle (and box) doesn’t mention anything about Tomintoul. What it does say is that they use the pure spring water from the Ballantruan Spring, and that Tomintoul whiskies are not peated – except the Tomintoul Peaty Tang. It looks, after digging around some of the internets, that Old Ballantruan has actually been discontinued, and the Peaty Tang is what stands in its place. I wonder whether I should focus my energies from time to time on finding discontinued expressions, since they will represent the last chances I have to try them. That’s something to think about. Of course it will also mean it is harder to buy them again if I like them.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Now, when you get peated malts it’s nice to find out about phenol content. Phenols are measured in parts per million and particularly renowned peaty whiskies like Ardbeg are known to have a content of around 55ppm – which doesn’t seem very much, but if you’re familiar with Ardbeg, you’ll know that packs quite a punch. Bruichladdich’s Octomore range regularly exceeds 160ppm, sometimes more than 200, but they also exceed £140 for spirit aged only a few years, so you’d have to be particularly adventurous (or lucky (or extravagant)) to find out what that’s like.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">All this leads me to saying that the phenol content of Old Ballantruan is unclear. One source suggested 55ppm, so matching Ardbeg, but another claimed it is only 30ppm. As ever, you just can’t trust the internet.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">So how’s it looking? As far as presentation is concerned you get a dull but sturdy tube depicting some gents digging up a bit of peat and a dark bottle that matches the design of the tube. The neck is fairly long and rounds out at the shoulders before tapering slightly to a sturdy bottom.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">According to <a href="https://www.royalmilewhiskies.com/" target="_blank">Royal Mile Whiskies.com</a>, the finish contains “cold haggis, bitumen [and a] touch of thick cardboard”. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">While from from whisky-discovery.blogspot.com, we have; “The smell of a big damp warehouse or cricket store at the end of winter...” </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">My initial impressions are favourable. Definite peaty sweetness on the nose, and some toffee on the palate. None of those other things present for me though. You only have to say “damp cricket store” to me, and I can smell it, so it definitely isn’t in this whisky. As for haggis, I doubt it is even possible for whisky to taste of that, and it just smacks of someone trying to reference something patently Scottish. Just give it up.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><i>Some other tastings</i></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I’ve been enjoying the Old Ballantruan so much neat that I found it hard to finally take the step toward adding a drop of water. Considering it’s an impressive 50%, there isn’t any burn to speak of. In fact, the only hint of the high strength is a very slight bitterness on the finish. Nevertheless, one day I did add water, and when I say it was only a drop, it really was only a drop. The immediate effect was wonderful; highlighting the sweet tones. As that paricular tasting progressed, for some reason the stunted taste of bottled spring water became more apparent. This wasn’t a problem on succeeding occasions though, and I took to adding a tiny drop of water every time I had a glass. It had grown to be very enjoyable, and probably the best spirit I had available at that point.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I was going to try it in a three-way tasting with <a href="http://dihuli.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/spirit-log-kilchoman-sanaig.html" target="_blank">Kilchoman Sanaig</a><b></b>and an <a href="http://dihuli.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/ardbeg-10-its-salty-sex-party-in-your.html" target="_blank">Ardbeg </a>miniature, but for some reason my booze collection seemed to be in constant danger of disappearing, so I decided to be more frugal and just enjoy each on their own terms.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Y4FYalsYon4/WCy4LFpvkeI/AAAAAAAAB7U/xwy-xiKpmRces8EAQaZPAdaV7vRVGzq0wCLcB/s1600/Old-Ballantruan-vs-Ardbeg-10ii.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Y4FYalsYon4/WCy4LFpvkeI/AAAAAAAAB7U/xwy-xiKpmRces8EAQaZPAdaV7vRVGzq0wCLcB/s640/Old-Ballantruan-vs-Ardbeg-10ii.jpg" width="384" /></a></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I finished the Kilchoman, enjoying its distinct earthiness for its own sake, and then decided I would do a direct Ballantruan-Ardbeg comparison one Friday night anyway.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">In terms of colour, Ardbeg is much paler, while on the nose I made notes that the Old Ballantruan was “custardy” with a pleasant hint of ginger and the Ardbeg “sweet and peachy” (how I like my women – though I probably wouldn’t mind if they were custardy, too – or indeed ginger, for that matter). </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I added water to the Old Ballantruan, to help bring out some of its sweetness, but I didn’t do the same to the Ardbeg, since I only had a miniature and I wouldn’t dare to disrespect it in this way – not that I’m disrespecting the Ballantruan, it’s just that the Old Ballantruan is 50% alcohol, while Ardbeg is only 46%. I don’t think you should ever add water to your whisky if it’s 46% or less. But that’s just me.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Anyways, on the tongue, Ardbeg is earthy, appley, and shows traces of Indian spices when held. It remains one of my favourites. In spite of this, I can’t find much to separate these two malts. They are both excellent, and excellent value. Ardbeg of course continues to be available, so the Old Ballantruan might be worth a punt while you can still get a hold of it.</div>Neil Cakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11195359194982167881noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754272455064185116.post-17682402194000519112016-10-18T11:42:00.000-07:002016-10-18T11:44:54.090-07:00Spirit Log: Appleton Estate Signature Blend<div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JG_xwuF4K_A/WAZtQVSxuSI/AAAAAAAAB7A/fL-W6QDtTUwwb_W7ycAWxtGBGe1ywvKmwCLcB/s1600/appleton-estate-signature-blend.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JG_xwuF4K_A/WAZtQVSxuSI/AAAAAAAAB7A/fL-W6QDtTUwwb_W7ycAWxtGBGe1ywvKmwCLcB/s640/appleton-estate-signature-blend.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>This week I am revisiting a rum brand that first made my acquaintance some time before my blog began. I can’t compare now and then, but I can do some vague comparisons with other spirits of the genre. That won’t be the primary focus of this post though. We’ll judge it on its own merits for the most part.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">This one was £16 from Tesco, who claimed it was £8 off. That it was the biggest discount over another product I was looking at, swung the balance in Appleton Estate’s favour. It carries 40 ABVs and is identified as a dark rum, the flagship of the Appleton Estate range, blended from 15 rums, with an average age of 4 years. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">That’s interesting; <i>average </i>age. Nothing further to say, I just find that interesting. I don’t think I’ve come across a spirit with an average age statement before – not that it is declared on the bottle. That’s just from <a href="http://www.thewhiskyexchange.co.uk/" target="_blank">The Whisky Exchange</a>’s product description, so it must be fairly casual, easy to obtain information.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Appleton Estate is the oldest sugar estate and distillery in Jamaica apparently, and in Joy Spence boasts the first appointed female master blender. How enlightened.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Presentation is in a bulbous and stubby bottle that is oddly pleasing to hold, and sealed with a crappy screw cap. My brother-in-law spied it on a recent visit, and thought it looked interesting. He can’t drink whisky and, looking for something to fill that void in his drinking habits, thought rum might be the answer. I opened it and he was very impressed. He didn’t seem interested in trying the <a href="http://dihuli.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/spirit-log-plantation-xo-barbados-20th.html" target="_blank">PlantationBarbados XO</a>, for some reason, but as long as he was happy, that’s fine with me. I tried the Appleton the next night, and my immediate impression was a cheap alcohol nose and heavy dose of ketchup. Not good. It looks the part in the glass; glossy, but more orangey than the red shade you might expect. It’s quite rough on entry to the mouth, but it does develop quite nicely.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">A week or two later I got around to trying a three way rum taste test, against the Plantation Barbados XO (of which less than a measure remained), and the <a href="http://dihuli.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/spirit-log-havana-club-anejo-especial.html" target="_blank">Havana Club Anejo Especial</a>. Against the Havana Club, something very odd about the Appleton Estate reveals itself. This is very, very rough spirit. It makes me wonder why they didn’t choose to make it a little better. That would surely reflect well on the brand as a whole. As it is, it is appearing over priced. The Havana Club Anejo Especial is generally priced around the same, and that comes off a little better. You do at least get the impression that you’re drinking something a rung or two above supermarket basic with that.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I tasted the Plantation Barbados last of the three, knowing it was likely to stand head and shoulders above, and it really did. So refined, full-bodied, and such sublime sweet vanilla. In general it is too sweet for my personal taste, but you can’t help but appreciate its quality.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Against competition then, the Appleton Estate didn’t fare too well. There was plenty of time though, for it to ingratiate itself with me over the coming months, though it never did. I rarely pulled it off the shelf, still less frequently pouring it into a glass. In fact, as I post this, there are still a few measures left in the bottle. I wouldn’t normally post a “review” of a spirit before finishing the bottle, though in all honesty, that isn’t so much a rule as an indicator of how far behind my drinking my writing is. Nevertheless, that’s still very telling.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I’ll finish with some recommendations then. First and foremost, I’d avoid this unless you’re intending to use it purely for cocktails and you’re getting a hefty discount. Even then, you may as well get a comparable supermarket brand. If you’re looking for a sipper, stay well away. In fact, you may as well stump up a few extra pounds and get the excellent <a href="http://dihuli.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/actual-quality-plantation-3-stars-rum.html" target="_blank">Plantation 3 Stars</a>. It may be a white rum (of some description), but it’s superb and easily overcomes any problems caused by difference in genre.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Thanks for stopping by once again. If you come back next week, I’ll be back on the peaty single malt trail with the Old Ballantruan. They don’t make it anymore, but that doesn’t mean you can’t read about it! Well, does it?!</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><br /><br /></div>Neil Cakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11195359194982167881noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5754272455064185116.post-86286153510408725842016-10-12T12:25:00.000-07:002016-10-12T12:25:25.550-07:00Spirit Log: Kilchoman Sanaig<div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oOorE6YfZ3I/V_6NzSwnDaI/AAAAAAAAB6w/wLMWIUVz3LwhXty2LpTleEDiZWUyxNO3QCLcB/s1600/kilchoman-sanaig-ii.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oOorE6YfZ3I/V_6NzSwnDaI/AAAAAAAAB6w/wLMWIUVz3LwhXty2LpTleEDiZWUyxNO3QCLcB/s640/kilchoman-sanaig-ii.jpg" width="384" /></a></div>The procurement of this one was almost a case of the alignment of stars and all that shit. It all starts of course, with my general preference for an Islay malt, and my regret at not being able to visit the Kilchoman distillery on my <a href="http://dihuli.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/good-evening-and-thanks-for-joining-me.html" target="_blank">visit there</a> a couple of years ago. Since then a Kilchoman has always been on my “must buy at some point” list, but I’ve always opted for other things until now, and the reason is that I received one of my regular emails from <a href="http://flaviar.com/">Flaviar.com</a> in which the Kilchoman Sanaig looked to be available for somewhere around £47. They reckoned that was £7 off or something, though it was only a couple of quid cheaper than at Master of Malt.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I had room in my booze budget, so I thought I’d click through and see how much delivery was. Oh. It’s £10.99. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">That was that then. Or so I thought, because later in the day I got an automatic email asking if a technical problem had prevented me checking out. I replied informing them that the problem concerned their delivery costs, which made the item more expensive than at their competitors.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">At this point, I went home for the weekend and forgot all about it. I don’t check my emails over the weekend, so it was a surprise to find three further emails from Flaviar on Monday morning – one of them offering free delivery. I soon saw though, that the offer only extended to the end of Sunday.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Disappointed, I got on with my work, but a couple of hours later, I thought maybe I’d click the link in the email anyway, and when I did, the order was still showing as free delivery. At this point a little box popped up and told me I could have 8% cashback through Quidco. Then I noticed I still had a £5 credit from ages ago when I’d signed up to Flaviar that I’d figured I’d never get to use. So there you see – not one, not two, but three discounts making this long awaited bottle something of a bargain at £41.99.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Will this work again? I don’t know, but it’s probably worth a try next time. As Flaviar pointed out, shipping costs decrease with every bottle you add to each order, and if you buy 4, your 4<sup>th</sup>is essentially free. That does mean you’re looking at spending more than £150 on your booze in one go, so it probably rules me out, but I’ll consider them again.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Enough about that, then. What about the product?</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">I couldn’t find this on the Kilchoman website, and the reason appears to be that it was produced solely for the French market, as the French felt Machir Bay wasn’t sweet enough. It has since spread to other parts of continental Europe. This then, contains more sherry cask content than Machir Bay.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Why would you make something just for the French?!? I don’t know; favourable rates over supplies of garlic, maybe? Advance access to new episodes of <i>Spiral</i>? Baguettes? That’s all I can think of.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">So, you get a decent quality blue box, inside of which is a sturdy bottle with matching colour scheme. The stopper is big and tight.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">The first thing that hits me is a nice, tangy nose. There’s an element that reminds me of the <a href="http://dihuli.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/good-for-you-glen-good-for-you.html" target="_blank">Glen Scotia 16</a>. The first hit of flavour is unexpected. It’s earthy, but that quickly transforms into being open, sweet and full bodied. That earthiness soon becomes a highlight, but you can only experience it on your first taste each day. It does seem a little young, but it is also well-rounded. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">On the second day, the nose was immediate and stunning; vanilla ice cream, then leather and a little bit of mint. Later, tobacco and bacon. There’s lots to admire here.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">You may have read some weeks back about how much I was enjoying <a href="http://dihuli.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/more-no-age-statement-scotch-talisker.html" target="_blank">Talisker’s Skye</a> expression – another no age statement (read: young), peated scotch. At £25 that was an absolute bargain and one I’ll be happy to revisit at some point in the future. To get hold of a bottle of Kilchoman Sanaig, you’re looking at exceeding £50 with your P&amp;P included (unless you’re lucky like I was), but I still think you’d be getting good value. This is another cracking malt, and one that will bring me back to trying Kilchomans more often. </div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><i>Postscript</i></div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">Looking ahead a few weeks, I’ll be posting about another peated malt very soon, that I have actually been enjoying even more than this one. So look out for that.</div><div class="western" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;"><br /><br /></div>Neil Cakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11195359194982167881noreply@blogger.com0